Lessons
by onetruefirelord
Summary: On one terrible night, two mothers die bringing two daughters into the world. Their lives will be forever tied together. AU
1. Prologue

They all tell her she looks like her mother. Gentle eyes, flowing hair, a soft face. But in other things, she takes after her father. (That's not necessarily a good thing.)

For his part, Hakoda does try to resist. It's the Fire Nation's fault, he'll say, because without them, they could have gotten the medicine they needed from the Earth Kingdom. It's nobody's fault, he'll say, because these tragedies sometimes just happen. But he's had to raise two children by himself, seeing his dear beloved Kya every time he looks at his daughter. He really does try to resist, but he can't hide the bitterness forever, can't reign in his temper every second.

She takes after her father. Brash, aggressive, fiery. Feels the urge to assert dominance. But behind it, there's the charisma, the knack for leadership, that intangible quality that makes you want to follow her.

Hakoda has mixed feelings when his little girl first bends water. What luck, that this gift was bestowed on one who is destined to be a warrior and a leader. What misfortune, that this gift of water was bestowed on one with so much fire. There is no one to teach her to bend. No one to teach her to be patient, to ebb and flow, to absorb the blows and roar back with twice the force.

She will grow up to be the Southern Water Tribe's greatest warrior. But she is not a warrior yet. Not a warrior on the day when the Southern Raiders come to kill the only waterbender. Yet on that day, she acts like one. And there is no one to save her against a crew of grown firebenders who have already terrorized the Southern Water Tribe.

She looks like her mother. Gentle eyes, flowing hair, a soft face.

She is a delicacy that the captain wants to sample before throwing in the trash.

She's only saved by the ship's honored passenger. She's young, malleable, he says. The Fire Lord will want to see her... _unharmed_. And the captain cannot disobey the orders of a prince.

The prince acts out of pity for a child so young. He cannot know what the future will bring for her. And in such an act, the prince sets in motion events that will topple an empire. This girl will grow up to be not just the greatest warrior of the Southern Water Tribe, but the greatest waterbender for generations, one that can face off against hoards of enemies. But that is not today.

…

They all tell her she looks like her mother. Zuko can't see why. Where her mother had gentle eyes, her eyes are sharp. Where her mother's hair was flowing, she wears it short (long hair is a liability in combat). Where Ursa's face was soft, her face seems designed to inflict fear. Zuko knows she takes after her father. (That's probably a bad thing.)

Ozai does what he wants. He pushes his daughter to the limit, teaching her forms before she even shows bending. Teaches her tactics and history before she can read one hundred characters. Ozai has two children, and does half the raising of one (why should a prince do the job of the palace staff?). He can't help it really- he's just trying to make the most of the last thing Ursa gave him.

She takes after her father. Brash, aggressive, fiery. Feels the urge to assert dominance. Ozai encourages this behavior- for one set to inherit the world, how else should one act? She carries herself as befits one with the divine right to rule, every motion and word designed to make you follow her (or else).

Ozai doesn't blink when his little girl first bends fire. It is a foregone conclusion, after all. He doesn't blink that her fire manifests at a younger age than ever recorded before, doesn't blink that it is blue. He teaches her the art of fire, of aggression, of passion, of dominance and victory.

She will grow up to be the Fire Nation's greatest warrior. Today, she already is a warrior. At the age of seven, she already trains with the capital's elite troops. She is already a warrior when Prince Iroh presents her grandfather with a unique catch from the Southern Water Tribe. She cannot know how closely intertwined their futures are. For today, she is the Fire Nation princess, and Iroh's prize is an inconsequential peasant.

…

Prince Zuko is the firstborn of the secondborn. For the first years of his life, he bears the brunt of Ozai's frustration. He has no drive, his father tells him. Useless, a waste. He's not even three, his mother yells back.

One day, his mother is no longer there to yell back. It takes a few more years before Zuko doesn't feel Ozai's frustration any more. Doesn't get anything from Ozai any more. Doesn't get anything from anyone any more.

One year later, something in Zuko clicks. He will not be forgotten, will not be cast aside. He trains at sunrise every day (his father doesn't notice). He trains into the night every night (his father doesn't notice). Finally, Zuko challenges his sister to a spar in front of their father.

Zuko wins the first round because she goes easy. She wins the next two, but Zuko has won back the attention of his father. Ozai smirks from his seat, because he now has two weapons to raise. (Azula isn't happy to lose the attention- she is the secondborn after all.)

…

Prince Iroh presents Fire Lord Azulon with a little girl, claiming her as his ward. (He is the Fire Lord's favored son, so he should get his wish.)

Fire Lord Azulon says no. It is time for the prince to get back to the battlefield after all, and the outskirts of Ba Sing Se are no place to bring a child, not even one who was meant to be dead already. Iroh protests- who else will care for the girl?

The child may remain in the palace, Azulon answers, to be fed, clothed, raised. Iroh is initially shocked at his father's generosity.

She will be given to Ozai (Iroh's heart plummets). After all, his children have never practiced against a waterbender, and Iroh has just given them the perfect opportunity. The war in the north is going nowhere, and his children will likely fight there when they grow older. (He is right, but at the same time so wrong.)

…

"Zuko, go fetch your sister. We have something to discuss."

"No need father," a sharp voice cuts in, "I was just on my way to see you. So, what is this thing that you wanted to talk about?"

Ozai reclines in his seat, clapping his hands to signal to a servant. As the servant exits the room, Ozai starts, "both of you have been progressing well in your training. I believe it is time to add another dimension to your skillset."

"Does this mean I'm ready to learn lightning?" asks the princess eagerly.

"You mean I'm ready," retorts Zuko. "You are much too young to learn to bend lightning. I'm almost the right age to begin."

Ozai cuts off his daughter's growl. "Neither of you is ready for lightning yet. No, what you will be learning is how to fight a waterbender."

Zuko snorts. "And how will that work? We all know the war in the north has not had any sort of victory in years."

"That is true," Ozai agrees, "but it turns out that the south, when left alone, will begin to bear fruit." The servant that had left enters the room again, dragging along a chained girl. "Behold the only waterbender of the south," Ozai continues. "You will learn techniques to kill waterbenders, and you will practice on it."

Azula regards Katara curiously. "This should be fun."

* * *

A/N:

So you know the stories where Katara gets taken to the Fire Nation, and then Zutara happens while Azula tries to interfere? This is meant to be the opposite. Any tension between Zuko and Katara is them actually not liking each other, meanwhile Azula is trying to push them together for her own reasons.

No idea how long this will be, but I imagine I will be working on it intermittently during all of summer break. The story should hopefully cover up all the way to the war ending, which would make it much longer than what I've done before.

F&F, R&R!


	2. Week One

"This should be fun," says the girl who is about her age. The look the girl gives her makes Katara question whether the stories about Fire Nation people eating children are true.

"Patience, Azula," reprimands the father. "I doubt you could learn much of anything right now practicing against this peasant. Reports indicated that she fought as if she didn't know any basic forms. So she will have to learn some first."

The girl, Azula, gives the father a respectful nod. "Of course. I look forward to facing her when she has improved her skills." Azula then turns to face Katara, baring a wide grin that only Katara can see. "I look forward indeed."

The father claps his hands, and Katara feels a gentle tug at her neck, wrists, and ankles.

…

The girl has a look of defiance that Azula has never seen before. No servant would dare look at her like that, and even Zuko at his worst toes the border at the most. But this girl looks like she would leap up and strangle her with her chains if she had the strength. Not that it means anything- the girl looks emaciated, tired, ready to keel over. Azula cannot look forward enough to breaking the waterbender.

As the girl is led away, Ozai asks his children, "so, what do you think? Will it be worth the effort of transporting the peasant here?"

Zuko shrugs. "I don't think she'll last the month. It might be better off selling her to a brothel- I'm sure the sum would compensate our losses."

"Oh dear," giggles Azula. "Does Zuzu have a crush?"

"Enough!" Ozai says, silencing his children. "Either she lasts or she doesn't, in the end it is of no consequence either way. Iroh seems fond of the girl, so perhaps not lasting is better."

…

When Katara was first taken off the ship, she couldn't help but be awed by the sight. She had never pictured what houses not made of ice or snow would look like, and here there were houses as far as the eye could see. Tall houses, wide houses, colored houses. The palace was even grander- glistening gold, extravagant sculptures, jewels which could probably buy the whole Southern Water Tribe and then some.

And it was _hot_. The Southern Raiders had not bothered to strip her of her parka, so Katara felt like she was roasting alive. Torches lighting hallways that probably felt cozy to the people here brought Katara to the verge of heat stroke, and it took all her concentration not to collapse.

The heat was exacerbated by all the terror Katara was feeling. As Katara was led though hallway after hallway, each feeling more hostile and imposing than the next, Katara could feel her heart pounding, the blood thumping in her head, her vision growing dark around the edges. Was she going to die here? Was she ever going to see her family again? Who would possibly save her? Would her family ever know what happened to her?

"We're here!" announces the servant, opening a door. Katara glances inside, seeing a spartan room with a cot and a small table. There was a plate of bread and a bowl of water on the table. Katara glanced at the servant in confusion- although the quarters weren't amazing, they were a far cry from the dungeons she had been expecting.

The servant seemed to understand the source of her confusion. "The Fire Lord feels that it would be counterproductive for your lodgings to be uncomfortable. You will need to focus on your training, after all. You will know more tomorrow, but for today, you should eat and rest. You certainly look like you need it." With that, the servant unlocked Katara's shackles and left the room, closing the door behind him.

After a short moment of being left alone, Katara rushed across the room to the table, devouring the bread and guzzling down the water. Hunger and thirst temporarily satiated, Katara collapsed on the bed. If she were like her father, she would be looking for a way out of here. But she was just so, so tired...

…

When Katara woke the next morning, she hoped for a brief moment that the last few days had been just a terrible dream. But between the softness of the bed and the sun filtering through the window, Katara knew that the nightmare was real. She quickly donned the simple tunic that was laid out next to the bed, and pressed her ear to the door. She heard nothing, and Katara briefly entertained the notion that she could make her escape.

She opened the door, only to see the same servant from last night standing behind it, a tray of food in his hands. "Ah, I was just coming to wake you!"

Katara numbly stepped aside to allow the servant into the room. "It's good to see that you are up so early," says the servant, "I had figured you would be resting well into the day. All the better, you must begin your training!"

Katara just stared dumbly. "Ah, I have rushed things, haven't I?" asked the servant. "I am called Chang, and I am your personal attendant while you remain at the palace. You are here to help the prince and princess learn to fight waterbenders, and so you must train your waterbending."

"But why would I help them? They- they- I certainly cannot call them my allies!"

Chang shook his head ruefully. "I'm sorry, I really am. I cannot imagine how difficult and terrifying this must be for you. But know that if you refuse to help them, they will toss you aside."

"Toss aside, as in, send me back to the south?" asked Katara hopefully.

Chang's answer killed her hope.

…

"The archivists have prepared materials for you," Chang said, leading Katara into the library. On a table were a number of scrolls, each marked with an indicator of the difficulty level of the form it depicted. "You are expected to learn these at a reasonable pace, so as to not keep the prince and princess waiting." He picked up a few of the scrolls and passed them to Katara.

The next place Chang led her to was some sort of training area. Several grouchy looking men were lounging on benches, but they snapped to attention as they saw the pair approach. "These are our experts on waterbending," Chang explained. "They have seen many years of combat in the northern theater, and know what you should look like when you are bending."

Chang turned to the men. "Shall we start?"

One of the men, who looked like the leader, nodded. "We'll start with a basic form," he said, selecting one of the scrolls that Katara was carrying. "Today you will learn to use a water whip. Observe." The man conjured a whip of fire, and used it to knock down a line of practice dummies that had been set up.

"Wait, I thought you guys would be waterbenders," said Katara in confusion. The men glanced among each other and burst into laughter.

"Waterb- where did they find this girl?" one of the men manages to sputter out.

"No wonder they managed to capture this one alive," sputters another.

"There are no waterbenders in this city to teach you," says the leader, silencing his companions. "So we can only show you what it should look like with fire. Is this going to be a problem?"

The look he gives her tells her that 'no' is the right answer.

…

The men don't really seem invested in making sure Katara learns the forms, but she nonetheless feels like she is making good progress. She's gotten the hang of a few of the beginner forms, and she feels that given a week, she might be able to move on to the intermediate forms.

She eats her lunch and dinner with Chang, and Chang tells her the basics about living in the Fire Nation. What schooling is like, where the market is, what the social ladder is. There's the unspoken words between them that none of this information is relevant to Katara, who is confined to the palace as a glorified prisoner.

The lack of care from her trainers means that she is not too sore when she returns to her room. Her room has a view of the sunset, and as she watches the brilliant colors paint the sky, she practices the forms she learned. When she is tired, she lies on the bed, gazing at the stars.

Her first full day in the Fire Nation, she decides, was not as bad as it could be.

…

Azula watches the water peasant practice from an adjacent training area. The girl's movements are slow, telegraphed, and weak. She supposes that's what happens when you combine a useless novice with washouts who were too useless to even be put to use in a fruitless war. Most of the men don't seem to want to be there, seeming to know how far down the chain they have fallen.

Azula stalks the waterbender as she takes her lunch break. The same servant who presented the girl the previous night is the one who brings her lunch. They talk about mundane topics that Azula only half-heartedly pays attention to, and Azula eventually leaves to see to her own lunch.

When Azula returns to spying on the waterbender, she sees Zuko also watching. She quietly sits behind him and asks, "what's your assessment," which earns a startled jump from her brother. "I personally think she's awful."

"She's just learning," Zuko says. "Not everyone can learn as fast as you can, and not everyone has already been training for years."

"That's a nice way of saying she's terrible," Azula responds. "Really, it's quite unbecoming to defend water peasants. Unless this is about how you were a terrible bender yourself."

"Shut up," is Zuko's curt reply.

"I think I get it," Azula continues, ignoring what her brother said. "You think you see a kindred spirit. Maybe you will be friends, bonding over your atrocious bending."

"I beat you yesterday," Zuko counters.

"But I won more rounds," Azula retorts. "And really, bragging about beating up your poor little sister? Such behavior is quite inappropriate for a Fire Lord."

"Why does that even matter? Father is second in line, neither of us will ever be Fire Lord!" Zuko yells, before storming away.

…

The waterbender takes her dinner with the same servant as before, and seems to crack a genuine smile during it. Intrigued, Azula follows the pair as Katara returns to her room, and hides around the corner as she hears the door shut.

"Princess!" Chang greets as he turns the corner, dropping to his knees. "My apologies, I did not see you there!"

"No worries," Azula drawls. Chang moves to hurry past the princess, but Azula stops him. "You and the waterbender seem chummy."

"I suppose that is the case," Chang responds. "I feel that she would acclimate better to her new surroundings if she had a friendly face to talk to."

"So you would say that the two of you are friends?"

Something in Azula's tone rubs Chang the wrong way, but he cannot afford to read too much into it. "I believe we are heading in that direction, yes."

"Good," Azula relies. "Keep doing that."

As Azula walks away, Chang cannot help but think that this is his most pleasant encounter with the princess in all his time here, which gives him a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

…

Katara settles into something of a routine over the next week. Each day, she rises eats her meals with Chang, and practices her waterbending. Katara has surprised her trainers in how fast she has progressed- they've graduated from just going through forms, and now she practices her offense and defense against their firebending. A true natural, she's heard one whisper, an innate talent that reminds them of the princess.

Katara relays all this to Chang, who seems glad to hear it. She's come a long way since the day she was brought here, he observes. In her time here, she's had a genuine smile on multiple occasions, and it just brightens his day so much to see it. Katara embraces Chang in a crushing hug on hearing this, and tells him that she is so grateful that he is the one who is attending to her.

Lying in bed that night, Katara comes to the realization that she's never actually told Chang her name. Chang calls her "dear" or "my sweet girl" or a number of other nicknames, so Katara didn't notice that her name didn't make the list. Why hasn't she told him, she wonders. It was about the symbolism, she supposes- for him to care about her name, he would have to care about her first.

...

When Katara arrives at the training grounds the next morning, she immediately senses that something is different. Her trainers are usually joking around or warming up when she gets there, but today they are standing stiffly in formation, looking at something behind her.

"Ah, she's finally here," says a distinctive voice, and Katara turns around to meet Azula's eyes. Katara realizes that she's seen remarkably little of the princess in the past week. Ozai and Zuko accompany Azula, the former of whom cannot hide his look of disdain, and the latter of whom has a look that isn't quite sympathy, but is better than nothing. Chang drops to his knees, hands and face to the ground, and hisses for Katara to do the same. She reluctantly follows suit.

"Our waterbending experts tell us that you've made good progress," Ozai begins, "so I decided that we should check on how much you've improved." His tone doesn't bother to hide his skepticism and lack of respect.

Katara nods. Although she had not been expecting to be called up to train with the siblings today, this is an eventuality that she had been bracing herself for. She feels a sympathetic squeeze on her shoulder, and Chang whispers to her, "just remember your training, and this will all be fine."

"I'll go first," Zuko declares, shoving his way past Azula, who shoots him a scowl. He moves to the opposite end of the training area, and prepares a firebending stance. "Are you ready?" he asks.

Katara summons a water whip, and lashes out at Zuko with it. The prince pivots his arms to the side, summoning a fire shield to block it. He then punches out, and his fireball is blocked by Katara's parry. The two engage in this for a few minutes, each making attacks and defending against them in turn, until Ozai calls it to an end.

"Indeed, you have made more progress than I've expected," Ozai comments. Katara barely manages to stiffle a grin- if she can keep up with the prince, then she is even better than she thought she was.

"It's my turn now," Azula announces, moving to take Zuko's place in the arena. "And just so you know," she continues, "I'm not going to go easy on you like my brother did. I'm here to learn to kill your kind, not dance."

Katara shoots back a smirk. "Bring it on," she taunts, raising her hands to position.

Katara leads with a water whip, giving a mighty yell as she swings it toward her opponent. Azula casually moves aside to dodge it, glancing down as the whip breaks into a puddle. Undetered, Katara next hurls ice shards at the princess, who summons a fire shield with her hand in the same motion that she uses her hand to stifle a yawn. Katara is shocked to see that the Azula is wielding blue fire- in her week here, she had never actually seen Azula bend.

"Are you done yet?" Azula asks. When Katara doesn't respond, Azula sneers, "my turn."

It takes all of five seconds for Katara to realize how outmatched she truly is. Katara barely has time to dodge to the side before the first jet of flame gets to her, and Katara can feel the heat as it singes the ends of her hair. Katara blindly throws a wild wave of water, and Azula somersaults over it, covering her approach with a fire wheel. The princess lands right in front of her, and before Katara can raise a finger, she feels a sickening punch to the stomach, which knocks the breath out of her.

Azula eschews her firebending, landing blow after blow to Katara's ribs, back, neck, face, both with her fists and with her sharp fingernails, dancing circles around the waterbender before finally sweeping her leg to trip Katara. Katara hits the ground hard, and doesn't have time to even groan before Azula gives a final kick to the stomach.

"Pathetic," the princess says, dropping to the ground beside Katara. "If anyone tells you that you are anywhere close to me," she whispers, "you now know that it is a total lie." Azula then rises, turning around and walking back to the palace. Katara curls up, clutching her sides, and looks around to see impassive faces looking back at her. The only emotion she sees is on Chang, who is holding his hands to his mouth in horror.

Her entire body aching, coughing up blood, humiliated at the hands of the princess, and truly seeing how few people care about her pain, Katara cries for the first time since she was captured.

Ozai mutters something that sounds like, "waste of time," before heading back to the palace. Zuko quickly moves to follow him. One by one, the trainers quietly shuffle out, until it is only Katara and Chang remaining.

When they are alone, Chang rushes to her side, pulling her up in a hug, whispering, "it's alright, dear, it's alright. You did great today, I promise, you did great."

"Katara." she manages to sob out.

"What?" asks Chang.

"Katara," she repeats. "My name is Katara."

* * *

A/N:

Ouch. Uh, I promise that Katara's defense will be much much better by the time the next chapter ends. Although it is just the beginning of her ordeals.


	3. Defense

Katara trains even harder over the next week. She won't let Azula's words get to her, she decides. She may not have much freedom here, but this will be her small act of rebellion. She demands from her trainers that they attack her with more ferocity, more realism, trying to improve as fast as she can.

Azula's next session is even more brutal. "You should just give up," Azula advises, her foot planted on Katara's back. "My brother may be able to find some use for you, but you're just a nobody from the bottom of the world. You will never amount to anything."

Two more weeks pass, and Azula becomes even more intrusive. She begins to show up to Katara's training sessions, forcing her to repeat basic movements because "almost perfect isn't good enough." It's just an excuse to hold back her training, Katara thinks. But her trainers would not dare to defy the princess.

In those two weeks, Azula leaves her lying on the ground twice more. After the second time, Azula shares a theory that the men are only keeping her around for her looks. "They're just humoring you until you turn of age," Azula says. "With what they have planned, you'd be lucky if I accidentally killed you before that."

Katara takes the next day off. Even though her physical injuries have healed rather well, Azula's dealt a much more long-lasting blow to her confidence. She replays Azula's words over and over in her head- she recognizes what Azula's trying to do, but it's still working on her. For some reason that escapes Katara, the princess seems to have made it her personal goal to get into her head, to humiliate her. And if Katara's learned anything, it's that Azula always gets what she wants.

Katara takes the next day off. And the next. There's no point of training if Azula will just beat her anyways, she thinks. She might as well just take advantage of the palace's amenities for as long as she can before they inevitably dispose of her. Chang has to drag her to her session with the royal siblings after she doesn't leave her room for a week.

She puts up a decent fight for Zuko, but when it's Azula's turn to spar, Katara doesn't bother. The fight is over in seconds. This time, Azula doesn't have any words for her, just smirks and leaves. For once, Katara muses, she will be able to get back to her room without being carried on Chang's shoulder.

,,,

Chang has a panicked look in his eyes when he brings dinner that night. Katara is just looking out the window, as she has done so often over the past week, and doesn't even acknowledge Chang entering the room. He has to shake her just to get her attention.

"What?" Katara grumbles. "Just put the tray on the table and come pick it up in an hour."

Chang shakes his head. "No, there's something you need to know. Prince Ozai is seriously considering getting rid of you now."

"What else is new?" Katara asks. "I practice with Zuko, then I lose to Azula. Ozai thinks I'm useless. I've been living on borrowed time from the start."

"Is that what you really think?" Chang counters. "Katara, you were never living on borrowed time until you stopped trying! Prince Ozai may not show it, but he truly was impressed with your progress. Everyone was!"

"Not Azula," Katara snaps. "You don't hear what she says. How I'm terrible, how I'm only around because people think I'm pretty, how she's going to kill me one of these days."

"And when," Chang asks, dropping his voice to a whisper, "has Princess Azula ever represented what anyone else is thinking? Katara, you can't compare yourself to her when she's been bending for as long as she has. I was here when Prince Zuko first started bending lessons, and believe me, you show much more talent than he did."

"So what do suggest? If I try to practice, Azula will just beat me down even harder. There's no point!"

"You need to persevere," Chang says. "Do you know how much people in the Fire Nation would pay for their children to have the opportunity to practice with Princess Azula? So what if you lose? You can learn more from one loss than you do from one hundred victories. But you have to learn."

"How do I do that?" Katara asks. "Even if Azula didn't sabotage my training sessions, my trainers still don't care enough about helping me get better. You are the only one who cares, and forgive me for saying so, but there's no much you can do to help my bending."

Chang sighs. "How much do you know about Prince Zuko?"

"Uh, he's less of a jerk than Azula, and Azula makes fun of his bending all the time?"

Chang chuckles. "The important thing is that Prince Zuko today is much different from Prince Zuko even two years ago. The Prince Zuko of today is capable of winning rounds against his sister occasionally. But two years ago, Prince Ozai completely gave up on training his son. Most thought he would never amount to anything close to what was expected from the firstborn son of a royal."

"So what changed?" Katara asks.

"It's a bit of an open secret among the servants here," Chang begins. "We think Princess Azula also knows, but we haven't been able to confirm."

"Prince Zuko started practicing by himself. He would go out at night and practice for hours. Just basic forms and basic movements at first, then more advanced forms. There was no one around to pressure him except for himself, and the prince thrived from that."

"I believe you," Chang finishes, "could benefit from the same thing."

…

Chang sneaks her into a secluded courtyard. It takes a while for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, but the first thing she notices is that there's no fountain, no spring, no water. "How do I practice without water?" she asks.

Chang gestures around to the trees and plants surrounding them. "Do you think Prince Zuko practiced with fire? He didn't want anyone to know what he was doing. Practice the forms, and trust in your connection to your element when you need it. I must be going now, good luck Katara."

Katara listens to the soft padding of footsteps as Chang disappears from earshot, then takes a deep breath. Here, surrounded by darkness, she feels a certain sense of calm that contrasts heavily with Azula's meddling. Maybe Zuko was onto something after all.

Having had minimal practice over the past week, Katara decides to warm up with the basics. She closes her eyes, picturing Azula opposing her. Block. Attack. Dodge. Attack. Dodge. Block. Attack.

Katara can feel the rust going away, which means it's time to move on to the intermediate forms. She raises her hands-

" _Again."_

Katara's eyes shoot open and she swings around, fists raised in front of her defensively. She frantically darts her head around, looking for Azula.

" _Almost perfect isn't good enough."_

Oh great, Katara thinks, as she realizes what's going on. Even at night, when the real princess is sleeping, the one in her head won't let her train. Ignoring the voice, she prepares the motion for her intermediate forms.

" _Almost perfect isn't good enough."_

" _Almost perfect isn't good enough."_

" _Almost perfect isn't good enough."_

Katara kicks out at a tree in frustration. Even though she detests the idea of listening to even an imaginary princess, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to perfect her basic forms. Katara guesses that Azula has done so for her's. Hours later, when Katara begins to feel fatigue settling in, the voice that tells her to keep going again starts to fade.

…

Azula checks up on the waterbender several times the next day. The servants tell her that she has not left the room all day, seemingly asleep. Azula smirks- it had taken longer than expected, but she has successfully broken the waterbender.

Now to find something else to do.

...

Katara spends the next night on intermediate forms, and the night after that on advanced forms. With nothing left to practice, Katara begins to replay her defeats in her head. Azula thrusts. Katara blocks. Azula kicks out. Katara dodges.

Katara is sparing against an imaginary princess when she hears a voice behind her. "What are you doing here?"

Katara turns around to see Prince Zuko, a small flame in his hand. "What are _you_ doing here?" Katara hisses back.

"I am the prince," Zuko snaps back, "and you are a servant. You are not supposed to be here. Shall I call for the guards, or will you tell me what you are doing here?"

Katara mulls through her options, and decides that she can't afford to have the guards called on her. "I was practicing," she explains, "Azula comes to my training sessions so I wanted some place quieter."

A small smile makes its way to Zuko's face. "Now that is something I totally get," he agrees.

"So," he continues, moving to take imaginary Azula's place, "how about sparing against someone real?"

…

Katara and Zuko meet up for the next two nights, and they go through the motions of sparing with all of the intensity and none of the noise and none of the bending. During the day, Katara lies on her bed, wondering what the prince's deal is. Azula has talked about how Zuko seems to fancy her, but Katara isn't ready to take the princess' word for it just yet. The darkness hides Zuko's expressions, so Katara can't really read into how Zuko looks at her.

Her thoughts are interrupted as Chang comes in bearing dinner. The man sets the tray out on the table, then takes a seat next to Katara on the bed. "How was practice?" Chang asks.

Katara bites her lip, wondering whether to spill, before finally blurting out, "I've been practicing with Zuko."

"Ahhh," Chang intones, before adding, "and how was it?"

Katara shrugs. "It's okay, I guess. Imagination is good and all, but you can't beat having someone physically there."

Chang chuckles. "So I take it your new practice regiment is useful?"

"It was extremely helpful," Katara replies. "How did you know it would work?"

"I suppose I've picked up a lot of wisdom in my time," Chang responds. "I used to be a soldier, and I fought alongside Prince Iroh during his campaign. We talked at length about philosophy and politics and other things, and met other similarly wise people during our travels. He actually asked me to look out for you before he left."

"I didn't know you were a soldier! But why are you a servant then?"

"Oh! Umm," Chang said, scratching his head, "well, it when I was on leave. I met this beautiful woman-"

"Ooooo, I think I know where this is going!" Katara teases.

"Well, then I don't have to finish the story!" Chang counters. Katara playfully jabs him with her elbow, pouting.

"Very well then, but only because you asked _so nicely_. We talked, we dated, we fell in love. I didn't want to leave the nation after that, so Iroh got me this job. One year later I had a son on the way."

"He's the cutest boy," Chang gushes. "He's right about your age, actually. Maybe one day, I can introduce you to him! I'm sure you two would hit it right off."

"That sounds great!" Katara exclaims, a wide smile on her face. "But if only they would ever let me leave the palace."

"All in good time," Chang says. "I don't have any more responsibilities for the rest of the night. Would you like to hear some war stories?"

…

So the sneaky little peasant has been training with Zuko, Azula muses, her ear pressed to Katara's door. A surprising development. If it were still her goal to humiliate the waterbender, then this would be a rather large setback.

But now Azula has a new goal in mind, and the waterbender has just presented her with a perfect opportunity to accomplish it.

…

Chang regales her with tales about his time in the Earth Kingdom long into the night before finally taking his leave. "You have an important day tomorrow," he says. "You need to give Ozai a reason to keep you around. I fully trust that you can."

Katara's confidence in herself matches Chang's, and it shows as she strides into the training area the next morning. Zuko shoots her a small smile, Azula is examining her nails disinterestedly, and Ozai is scowling.

Zuko takes his turn, and the two repeat the same dance they have done for the past few nights. At the end Zuko gives a small bow, and Katara returns it. Now, Katara thinks, it's time to really put what she's learned to the test.

Azula hops off the bench and casually strolls to take her position across Katara. "I'll let you decide this time," the princess says, "do you want me to go easy on you?"

Katara grins, shouting back, "do your worst!"

Azula immediately leaps into action, a quick jet of blue fire streaming from her fingertips. Katara dodges with practiced ease, then dodges the next two strikes too. As the fight goes on, the world disappears from view and all she sees is Azula. She's in the courtyard again and it's just the two of them, and Katara is holding strong as Azula tries to break her defense but is stopped at every turn.

Eventually the attacks stop coming. Katara takes a moment to catch her breath and glares across the arena at Azula, who looks as if she had just come from taking a leisurely stroll. The princess crosses her hands behind her back and starts walking towards Katara, her guard completely down. Katara looks at the situation in confusion- is the bout over? What's going on?

As if reading her mind, Azula shouts out, "keep going!"

Well, it's not like Katara would ever ask permission to attack the smug princess. Katara gathers her water and lashes out at the firebender with all the force she can muster behind it.

A wide grin crosses Azula's face.

Uh-oh.

The princess slips under the whip with ease and closes the remaining distance, grabbing Katara's extended arm and tossing Katara over her shoulder. Katara hits the ground with a thud, groaning and bracing for Azula's next strike.

It doesn't come.

Azula bends down and extends her open hand to Katara, who regards it with suspicion. A long moment passes between the two, before Katara takes Azula's hand and the princess pulls her up. "Not bad," the princess compliments, "but we'll need to work on your offense."

Katara is rendered speechless by Azula's words, gazing dumbly as the princess saunters off towards the palace. Ozai wordlessly leaves after his daughter, with everyone else following suit. Katara doesn't notice Chang's approach until he's wrapped her in a big hug. "You did it!" he says enthusiastically. "Do you know what you've done? You've trained for less than a month and can fight toe to toe with the princess!"

Katara, for her part, can only smile as the two head to lunch. With the princess off her back. Katara thinks, maybe things will finally start to look up for her.

…

Katara strolls back to her room after lunch, humming a cheery Water Tribe tune. Chang has hinted that her outstanding success might get her the opportunity to leave the palace. She'd be able to visit Chang's home and meet his family. It's also the first step, he adds with hushed tones, in her being able to escape the Fire Nation. The thought of being able to get back home puts her in an extremely good mood.

Katara lets out of a yelp of surprise as Azula reaches out from the shadows to grab her arm.

"I have a proposition for you."

* * *

A/N:

If something goes right in the Fire Nation, something bad is inevitably going to follow...


	4. Drowning

"I have a proposition for you."

Katara looks skeptically at the princess as she runs through the situation in her head. Everything inside her is screaming at her to walk away- this is the girl who brutally beat Katara every week and then sabotaged her training so that she would keep losing. Before today, Azula had never treated Katara as anything other than subhuman, and one minimally decent act wouldn't fix that.

Katara tries to snatch her hand away, but Azula simply tightens her grip and Katara can feel Azula's nails digging into her wrist. "You'll want to hear me out," Azula whispers, her tone sending shivers down Katara's spine.

"Fine," Katara hisses back. "What do you want?"

Azula lets out an exaggerated sigh. "It's not always about what _I_ want. Let's talk about what _you_ want." Katara gives the princess an exasperated look of disbelief, which Azula ignores.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," she continues, "but what you want is to be more than a glorified prisoner. You want the freedoms of a Fire Nation citizen without having to swear allegiance."

"And finally," she finishes, "you want to be able to return home."

A glimmer of hope crosses Katara's mind, before she remembers who she is talking to. "Yeah, and what? You are just going to give those to me?" she snorts.

"Of course not," Azula replies, her tone derisive. "You are going to have to work for it."

"Well, get to the point then," Katara shoots back. "What is it you want me to do?"

"My, my, you shouldn't be so testy," Azula smirks. "I'm doing you a favor. Anyways, all that has to happen for you to get what you want is that you become a Fire Nation princess."

This is all a practical joke, Katara thinks. Her, a princess of the Fire Nation? Azula is the last person Katara sees as being willing to support such a notion. "I'm not playing this game," Katara says, moving to leave.

Once again, Azula's grip tightens, and Katara cannot shake herself loose. "Trust me, this is no game," Azula sneers. "It's easier than you think. How close are you with my brother?"

Katara's thoughts fly to her nighttime sparring sessions with Zuko. Does Azula know about them? She can't know... can she? "Um, we get along, I guess?" she answers, not committing in either direction.

It seems to be the right answer for the princess. Azula's mouth forms a wide grin, and she exclaims, "Great! So all you will have to do is win his affection! Get him to fall so much in love with you that he wants to take you as his bride."

"No way!" Katara protests. "How would that even work? Wouldn't I just be a concubine or something? Isn't that how it works here?"

"That all falls on you," Azula explains. "Zuko, despite all his effort winning his father's approval, still hates our father. He would marry someone like you just to spite our father. So all that needs to happen is that Zuko would want to marry you."

"Now, since you two get along already," Azula continues, "you simply need to continue to get closer to him. You may bond about how much better I am than you two, and how you can't stand my father. Draw him into conversations about family and honor and romance and all that nonsense. You're a pretty girl and he's a young boy- trust me, it will work."

"And if I refuse?"

Azula shrugs. "Why don't you give it a try? It's not like you have anything to lose if it doesn't work out."

…

Katara cannot get to sleep that night. She knows full well that she cannot trust anything that comes out of Azula's mouth, but the princess' silken tongue still manages to instill doubt in Katara's mind. Would it really be possible to become princess? Imagine what she could accomplish from that position!

Why is she even considering this? Why is she even considering anything suggested by Azula?

She remembers Chang's words to her yesterday- by impressing Ozai, she might win some liberties. But how plausible is that really? For all she knows, Ozai would just make her schedule even more tight now. The thoughts and logic of the royalty here are simply way too strange for Katara to make a good guess. And the extent of those liberties certainly would not include her return home.

Uncertainty plagues her. What happens to her tomorrow? What happens to her in the near future? Would she and Zuko even work out? Sure, they've shared a few smiles, but nothing else to suggest anything more. And most importantly, what does Azula stand to gain from this?

Katara pounds her first into the bed and growls in frustration. The Fire Nation is just so messed up...

…

It takes hours for Katara to finally get to sleep, so Chang finds her out cold when he brings in breakfast the next morning. Chang rouses her gently, teasing her about another late night with the prince. Katara replies that it was actually the princess who was on her mind last night, and tells Chang about her encounter with Azula the night before.

Once Chang hears the story, he tells her unequivocally to avoid the princess' games. "That girl is nothing but trouble," Chang says, "her mind is cunning and her motivations are unclear, which means that you must move with extreme caution."

Chang is called away before he can say anything more, which leaves Katara to contemplate his words in silence. Chang's advice mirrors her own wariness about the the princess, but if Azula is as much danger as they believe, then refusing her might also invite trouble.

Katara decides to shelve away those thoughts for later. If there is to be any change in her situation, then she would likely learn about it at her training session, which means she probably shouldn't skip today.

…

If there is a change, then her trainers don't know. In fact, they act as if she hadn't skipped practice the entire week before and as if she hadn't shown massive improvement. As a result, Katara decides to take the afternoon off.

On her way back to her room after lunch, Katara happens to see Zuko heading down a hallway she has never used before. Katara internally debates whether or not to follow the prince, before eventually deciding to go through with it. ' _It's not like you have anything to lose if it doesn't work out,'_ Azula's voice tells her.

Tiptoeing down the hallway, Katara comes upon a beautiful courtyard. In front of her is Zuko, kneeling before a grave, his eyes closed. 'Here lies Ursa,' it reads, 'beloved mother and beloved wife.'

As she approaches, Katara accidentally kicks over a stone, causing Zuko to turn around and glare at her. "What are you doing here?" he asks.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," Katara lies. "I was taking a walk and stumbled upon this garden. It's gorgeous."

"Yeah, I suppose it is," Zuko says. "Shouldn't you be at training right now?"

"You know as well as I do that I don't train during the day now," Katara remarks, earning a slight grin from Zuko.

' _Draw him into conversations about family and honor and romance and all that nonsense._ '

"Forgive my asking," Katara continues, "but is that your mother? I can't help but notice that, um, Ozai doesn't seem to have a wife."

Zuko nods. "Yes it is," he says. "She died when I was very young. I don't remember much, but from my limited memory and from what the servants have told me, she was kind and generous and a pleasure to know. If she were still here, she probably would have given you a better welcome than we did."

' _You may bond about how much better I am than you two, and how you can't stand my father._ '

"Well, all things considered, I'd say your welcome was fine, especially compared to your sister," Katara replies.

Zuko lets out a deep sigh. "They say Azula looks like my mother, but I just don't believe it it. She's everything my mother wasn't, and I hate it."

"Yeah, she drives me crazy too," Katara chimes in.

"That's why I like to come here," Zuko says. "I just feel so at peace when I'm here. Everywhere else, it just feels like I'm treading water, trying not to drown. Father wants to be Fire Lord, Azula wants everyone to think she's better than me, and I'm just here trying to be me. Being in this family is like being forced to play a game that I don't want any part of."

"You should be glad," Zuko finishes, "that you don't have to deal with any of this."

…

Katara returns to her room to find Azula casually lounging on her bed, a bowl of cherries next to her. "Well, how did it go with my brother?" she asks.

"I'm not going to do it!" Katara announces. "I figured out your plan. You just want me to distract Zuko away from his training so you can beat him. I won't play your game."

A tense silence falls between the two. Katara can see the wheels turning in the princess' head, and she wonders what the consequences for refusing her will be. Finally, Azula plasters on a cheerful face and says, "Oh well! I guess it just wasn't meant to be!"

Katara barely reigns in her surprise at the unexpected reaction. Azula chuckles, rising off the bed and standing face to face with Katara. "I can already beat him," Azula says. "So I'm afraid you have the wrong answer. Good guess though."

Azula turns around to pick up her cherries, and accidentally drops a popped cherry onto Katara's bed. The two girls watch as the red color spreads over the sheets, and Azula says, "Sorry about that. I'm sure we can get your manservant to clean it up for us. As for you... we train tomorrow morning."

As the princess exits the room, Katara cannot help but feel that a more hostile response would have been preferable. As it stands now, Katara cannot tell how sincere Azula is.

…

Katara arrives at the training area the next morning to find many practice dummies set up. Azula is sitting in the middle of them in a meditative pose, but cracks an eye when she hears Katara approach. "Ah, you made it!" she says. "Come here!"

Katara hesitates a little, to which Azula says, "Don't worry, we're working on your offense! I'm not going to be attacking you at all today!" Azula slides up next to Katara, and points to one of the practice dummies. "Let me see your attack," she says.

Katara obeys and sends a shower of ice at the dummy. Azula nods approvingly as she inspects the impaled dummy, before saying, "now a whip." Katara rears back her arm to attack, but Azula suddenly yells, "stop!"

Katara looks at Azula in confusion. The princess moves behind Katara and takes her wrists in either hand, shifting them into different positions. "This form is better," she explains. "You use less strength, but strike out with more force. Try it now."

Apparently the princess knows what she is talking about- Katara attacks, and can immediately feel the difference. She turns around to flash Azula a grin, and notices Zuko watching from a balcony behind them. Azula follows Katara's gaze, then tells her, "don't worry about him. You two can work out your own practice schedule. I wouldn't recommend it though- you are already so much better than my brother is."

As the day goes on, Azula continues to be surprisingly helpful. Her constructive tips about posture and tactics are far more useful than forcing Katara to repeat the same motion for hours. Finally, lunchtime arrives, and Azula is called away to meet with her tutors. Before she leaves, Katara asks, "you aren't being nice to me just to get me to agree with your plan, are you?"

"Of course not."

…

"What's your game, Azula?"

"Why must there be a game, Zuzu?"

"We both know it's not like you to be so nice to someone like her."

"Oh fine, you caught me. If you must know, I'm making sure she beats you the next time she fights you. Imagine what father would think when that happens."

...

Zuko flags Katara down shortly after she finishes her lunch. "Hey," he says, "do you want to train tonight at our usual spot?" Katara can't think of any reason to say no, so she replies in the affirmative.

"Great! I saw you training today, and you looked like you've improved a lot! Oh, one more thing: I think it would be good if you brought water with you this time, just to make it more realistic."

…

Chang sneaks her a small tub of water to bring to her session with Zuko after the other servants have gone to sleep. Katara makes her way to the courtyard as quietly as she can, being careful not to spill any of the water. As a result, it takes her longer than usual to get here- however, Zuko is still not there when she arrives.

…

"Fancy seeing you wandering the halls at this time of night, dear brother."

…

Katara waits for ten minutes, before concluding that Zuko has stood her up. She's about to leave when fire erupts around her on all sides. "Sieze her!" she hears. As Katara is grabbed from behind, she looks up to see Zuko's face hidden in darkness. Katara cannot hide her shock as Zuko quickly turns away and leaves.

…

Katara spends the night in a filthy dungeon. It all reminds her of when she was first captured and brought to the Fire Nation- the soldiers wielding fire, the chains, the hopelessness. So many questions- did Zuko sell her out? If not, who did? Or was it an accident? What happens to her now?

When morning arrives, she is thrown down in front of Prince Ozai, who looks furious. "You stand accused of attempted assassination, the punishment for which is death," declares the guard captain. "You, a waterbender, obtained a large portion of water in the middle the night, and were apprehended a short distance away from the Fire Lord's chambers. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Katara considers her options carefully. If she were to try and tell the truth, could she trust Zuko to corroborate her story? If Zuko had set her up, then he would deny her story, and everyone would take his word over her's. But what lie would she tell? She was just out training in the middle of the night? Who would believe that?

"I hardly think assassination was on her mind," says a voice behind her.

Katara snaps her head back to look at her defender, but truthfully she can already tell who it is from the voice. Azula walks to the center of the room, and continues, "she was caught with an unwieldy container of water. If murder was her intent, then why would she not utilize a much more portable vessel? A waterskin, for example? If it were an assassination, then it is poorly planned; therefore we must conclude that this was not an assassination."

"Then what would be your explanation for her behavior, my daughter?" Ozai asks.

"It's simple," Azula offers. "Perhaps she, as a waterbender, simply wanted to practice under the moon in the same way we firebenders practice under the sun. Honestly, I think it shows initiative, and she should not be punished for it."

Ozai seems to consider it for a moment, before agreeing. "Very well. You are dismissed."

Katara feels a tug at her wrist, and Azula whispers, "let's get out of here."

…

Katara runs into Zuko in the hallways outside. The prince vehemently denies having any part to do with her fiasco, explaining that he was held up because he had run into his sister. Katara simply walks past him, not wanting to deal with him right now.

Katara breathes a huge sigh of relief as she gets back to her room, slumping down against the wall. She stays there for the better part of an hour, until her heart rate settles back to normal. How fortunate, she thinks, that Azula was there to bail her out.

She thinks back to Zuko's words. ' _It just feels like I'm treading water, trying not to drown...Being in this family is like being forced to play a game that I don't want any part of. You should be glad that you don't have to deal with any of this._ ' Well, like it or not, it feels like Katara has been dragged into this game, and she's losing by a lot already.

Chang would be able to offer some insight, she thinks. So all she has to do is wait for him to bring dinner, as he always does.

…

It's a different servant this time. "Here's your dinner," says the man gruffly, setting the tray down before turning away. Katara just stares dumbly at the food, before chasing after the servant. "Where is Chang? He usually brings me my meals."

The servant shrugs her off, saying, "he was executed this morning. Leave me alone."

Katara's heart skips a beat, and she leans against the wall, feeling weak. Chang...executed...? Why?

Azula would know.

Katara sprints down the halls towards Azula's chambers, pounding on the door when she gets there. "Azula! Please, open the door!"

Katara hears a book close and footsteps approach the door. It opens, and Azula peers through the crack. "What's wrong?" she asks, concern in her voice.

"It's Chang!" Katara exclaims. "A servant just told me he was executed! Why would they do such a thing?"

"I suppose you should sit down for this," Azula says, ushering Katara inside. The princess' room is much larger than Katara's is, but Katara is too frantic to really notice.

"Your friend was brought in for questioning about the... incident," Azula begins. "It is, of course, quite negligent to supply a waterbender with water in the middle of the night."

"But I wasn't punished for that!" Katara protests. "And that's hardly grounds for a death sentence!"

"You are right," Azula agrees, "but that's not the whole story. Soldiers searched his chambers, and found a hidden compartment under his floorboards. Coded messages written on sealskin and Earth Kingdom parchment. Do you know what this means?"

Chang has explained the word once to her... "Espionage," Katara says.

Azula nods. "Yes, he was found guilty of espionage. We believe he was in league with our enemies, but we don't know to what extent because we cannot decode the messages."

"B-b-but he seemed so friendly!" Katara cries. "Why would he be involved in something like that?"

"We believe he was just trying to get close to you so that he could use you as an asset," Azula explains. "But don't worry, you won't be implicated with anything he's done."

Katara cannot contain her tears any more, and breaks out sobbing. Her only friend here was just using her? But he truly seemed so sincere- their conversations, his invitations, his advice.

Azula envelops her in a hug, patting her back and murmuring, "don't worry. It will all be okay. You don't need him. I'll be your friend now."

* * *

A/N:

Chang had a target on his back the second I gave him a name instead of him just being "nameless servant #4". I don't usually like OCs, but here it was the best way to get the initial plot development going.

Not super happy with this chapter- I don't think I balanced showing what Katara sees and dropping hints about what actually happened that well. I might edit this chapter sometime in the future.

Next chapter: Iroh returns, and Katara recieves another proposition.


	5. Redirection

Traitors don't get funerals. Traitors don't get proper burials.

When Katara asks Azula how Chang died, the princess doesn't sugarcoat it. "This is the Fire Nation. Cremation is standard. For traitors we put the execution and cremation into one. And, before you ask, yes he died terribly and in pain."

Katara frowns. How can Azula talk about someone else's pain so nonchalantly? "Well, um, what happens to the ashes?"

Azula shrugs. "Usually in cases like this, we just throw them into some garden to feed the plants. However, the traitor was especially... vocal and disrespectful during his execution, so father is still trying to decide what to do."

"But he has a family!" Katara protests. "Shouldn't they get his remains? Do they even know what happened to Chang? What happens to them now?"

"Yes, they were informed that the servant was found guilty of espionage," Azula replies. "The wife's job as a noble's maid shouldn't be endangered due to her husband's activities. Really though, you mustn't get so worked up over that man's death. He was only using you to try and further his goals."

"Even if that is so," Katara counters, "he still helped me get used to living here. I feel like I owe him... if they haven't done anything with his remains, can you get me them?"

A look of annoyance seems to cross Azula's face, but it's gone so fast Katara isn't sure if she just imagined it. "Fine," the princess huffs finally. "But don't even think about moping around and skipping training."

…

Katara does give it her all during her sparring session with the princess, despite the heavy weight in her heart. She returns to her room to find a small box on her bed, along with a note reading, 'They believe these are in the pig sty. Don't tell anybody.'

Katara stows the box underneath her bed. One day, she will be allowed to leave the palace. When she does, she will return these remains to where they belong.

…

There's a rather large commotion one day during a sparring session, and even Azula finds it unusual enough that she cuts their session short. The two follow their ears towards the source of the noise, eventually making their way to the palace gates. It's the closest she's been to the exit since she got here, Katara muses. Chang's promises on being able to leave feel like such a long time ago...

The gates open, and a royal procession makes its way in. Katara hears Azula snort next to her, and glances at the princess. "With a procession this big," Azula explains, "it has to be a member of the royal family. So either it's cousin Lu Ten or my fuddy-duddy uncle."

Azula's theories are confirmed when Iroh steps out of the palanquin. As the servants drop to their knees and bow, Iroh looks around him, and Katara could swear that the prince locked eyes with her. Katara feels a tug at her sleeve, and Azula whispers, "Let's get out of here. There's nothing of interest to see."

…

That same afternoon, a servant whom Katara has never seen before brings her a note. 'Join me in the private training grounds,' it reads, and Katara guesses that it is from the newly returned prince. The two make their way towards the meeting point, unaware of the small figure sneaking behind them.

"Greetings, young one!" Iroh greets cheerfully. Katara dutifully bows, but Iroh dismisses it. "Please, do not trouble yourself on my account! We are friends, are we not?"

A pang shoots through Katara's heart as she remembers the last man who showed her such cheer, but she hides it. "What did you want to see me for, Prince Iroh?" she inquires.

"Please, call me Iroh!" he replies. "I simply wanted to know how you are doing with your bending!"

Iroh's skills are legendary, but Katara's sure that she has improved to the point where even Iroh would be impressed. Katara raises her hands to begin her kata, but Iroh cuts her off. "If you wish to show me, then we should not do this here," he explains. "The walls have ears."

Katara doesn't know what to make of the cryptic message, but she allows Iroh to lead her to a secluded arena that conveniently has a stream next to it. "That's better," Iroh says. "You never know who is watching. Now, why don't you show me what you've learned?"

Katara takes a deep breath and closes her eyes as she begins her dance, guiding the water as she punches, dodges, kicks, weaves her way through an imaginary duel. She makes her final strike, a mighty crashing wave, and opens her eyes, a grin on her face. Perfect, she thinks, not one hair out of place.

To her dismay, Iroh is looking at her with a mixture of shock and pity. "What's wrong?" Katara asks. She's sure that she did the forms correctly, so why is Iroh making that face?

"Your form," Iroh sighs. "It has so much fire, so little water. How did it become like that? Who has been teaching you?"

"Um, they gave me waterbending scrolls that were in the library. Also, they had soldiers who had seen waterbenders in combat," Katara says. "I learned the basic and intermediate forms under their guidance." She can hear Iroh snort in derision.

"They are not suited for teaching waterbending," Iroh says. "And you said basic and intermediate forms? From your demonstration, you clearly have also learned advanced forms."

"Yes," Katara confirms. "Princess Azula has been working with me personally for those."

Iroh's reaction is the closest to angry that Katara has seen out of the prince yet. "You should stay away from her," Iroh warns. "She is nothing but trouble, and she will get you killed if you aren't careful."

"She's been looking out for me!" Katara argues.

"Only after nearly breaking your body and your spirit," Iroh counters. "But let us not continue this, I did not come here to fight. Simply put, if you are going to survive your time with this family, there is a technique I must teach you."

Sparks begin to crackle on Iroh's fingertips, and he tells her, "you must learn how to redirect lightning."

…

"Father, I do believe an opportunity has presented itself."

"If so, then you should make necessary preparations."

…

Iroh's lesson is cut short when an urgent letter arrives. Iroh reads the scroll, sighing, "I must return to the battlefield at once. I had hoped to spend more time here, but I must perform my duties as prince first. We'll stop here. Return to your quarters, young one."

As Katara returns to her room, she thinks that redirecting lightning leaves a funny sensation in her stomach. Katara dares to feel excited, sporting a grin on her face and a skip in her step- after all, it's not every day that you become one of the only two people in the world who know a special bending technique.

Azula is lounging on her bed when she gets back, a bored look on the princess' face. "I feel like you like that bed too much," Katara jokes.

"It's a bed in the Fire Nation palace," Azula counters. "What sort of people would we be if the beds were not comfortable?"

 _'You should stay away from her. She is nothing but trouble, and she will get you killed if you aren't careful.'_

A weak smile crosses Katara's face, and Azula instantly picks up on it. "What's wrong?" the firebender asks, her voice tinged with concern.

"Oh, it's nothing," Katara sighs, attempting to dismiss the topic.

"It doesn't look like nothing," Azula says. "Was it something my uncle said? The man's old, he's probably not aware of half the nonsense that comes out of his mouth."

Katara senses that Azula isn't going to drop this, and gives in. "He basically asked why I trust you when you beat me up so much before."

Rather than defend her previous actions, Azula simply asks, "Wait, you told him that I beat you up?"

Katara thinks for a second. "No, I don't think I mentioned it. I think he brought it up first."

"Hmmm," Azula muses. "Something might be off here. Tell me _exactly_ how the conversation went."

Katara walks Azula through her session with Iroh, with Azula occasionally interrupting to ask for clarifications. When she finishes, Azula murmurs, "Well, this is concerning..."

"What is?"

"Let's test your deductive skills," Azula challenges. Even though Katara just wants the answer now, she is familiar enough with the princess to not even try to protest. "First, my uncle had knowledge of the early stages of your training, given that he knew about what happened during your first weeks. What does this mean?"

"Erm, I guess that means he asked around about me after he got back?"

Azula shakes her head. "No. Because he looked angry when you told him I was helping you out, which means he didn't know about it already. If he had asked someone yesterday, he would have known."

"So that means..." Katara deduces, "he got a progress report or something about me after I started training but before you started training me."

As the words slip out of her mouth, Katara realizes the answer. "Iroh and Chang were friends..." she mutters.

"What's that?" Azula asks. "I couldn't hear you."

"Iroh and Chang were friends," Katara repeats. "The timeline fits! Chang must have been sending Iroh progress reports about me."

"If that's the case," Azula says, "then that implicates Iroh with a known traitor and spy."

A jolt of shock shoots through Katara's heart. First Chang, now Iroh? "What does this mean for me?" Katara asks. "Would I... have to testify against him or something?" The thought of condemning the man who saved her from slavery (and worse) doesn't sit well with her.

Azula shakes her head. "Leave that to me. For now, we should get to why I came to your room in the first place! My father has requested an audience with you."

…

Ozai has always been a terrifying person, and it's the same today. This time, the look in his eyes is almost predatory as the prince seems to pick her apart just with his gaze. Katara stands mutely- if Ozai has called her here, then she'll let him have the first word.

After a long moment of agonizing silence, Ozai finally speaks. "I'm told that you wish to return to the Southern Water Tribe."

The last time someone directly offered to return her home, it involved her seducing Zuko. Ozai will certainly also expect something in return. Katara gives a slight nod, waiting for Ozai to speak his terms. According to Azula, in the presence of ones above her station, she should remain as silent as possible.

"The Fire Lord has grown frail," Ozai begins, as he strokes his goatee. "The Fire Nation deserves a strong ruler, one who can lead them into a new era."

It's vague and horribly generic, but Katara has learned enough from Azula to read in between the lines. What Ozai is hinting towards is nothing but complete treason. Katara is sure that she's missing something- Iroh is first in line for succession, and Ozai would lose his head for orchestrating the assassination. What does Ozai hope to accomplish?

"It would of course be unfortunate if the Fire Lord's health were to fail him," Ozai continues to drone. Well, if Ozai is going to skirt around the topic, then Katara is going to let him. She plasters an oblivious smile on her face, waiting for Ozai to get frustrated and slip up. _'The walls have ears,'_ she recalls Iroh saying. Whatever happens, it has to be Ozai who directly suggests murder first.

"Do you understand what I'm saying?" Ozai asks.

Katara can tell that Ozai believes her to be an ignorant water peasant, and she's happy to play the role. "Of course!" she exclaims sweetly. "I should wish the Fire Lord a long and healthy reign!"

Ozai's temper finally slips, and he lunges forward to seize Katara by the collar. "Kill my father," he hisses in her ear, "and you shall be returned to the south. Otherwise, I shall see to it that you never see your precious home again."

…

Azula greets her as soon as she exits the chamber. "Well that was eventful," she muses as she steers Katara towards a quiet hallway. "Are you going to do it?"

Katara shakes her head. "Why would I? I don't trust his promise to return me home. And I feel like I'm being played for a fool here- what does he get out of this? How would this not backfire on your father?"

"Well, the first part is simple," Azula responds. "You would do it out of revenge."

"...What?"

"The Southern Raiders," Azula explains. "You know, the group that kidnapped you? The group that's terrorized the south for a decade? Fire Lord Sozin deemed your water tribe too insignificant to bother with- it was Fire Lord Azulon who brought the Raiders into being. Doing this would be like avenging all your people."

Katara bites her lip. If what Azula says is true, then it would be an enticing prospect... "Still, I don't see what your father gets out of this. What if he's just trying to set me up as a sick joke? They already suspected me of trying to assassinate the Fire Lord once and Chang died because of it!"

"Well, your escape route would be guaranteed by me," Azula explains. "It wouldn't matter if they suspected you this time. And hell, you would probably be a hero among your own people when you returned. Wouldn't you like that?"

Katara bites her lip. It's not like that would be a _bad_ prospect... and it's not like she doesn't trust Azula to keep her word. It's just that... assassination feels icky to her, even if she truly believes that person is better off dead.

"The Fire Lord can often be found alone in his chambers at night," Azula says. "There's a secret passage that bypasses the guards which I can show you. Ultimately, it's up to you to decide whether or not you want to go through with it. I will tell you this: my father stands to gain from this. I leave it up to you to figure out how."

…

Katara stares intensely at the loose stone on the wall of a secluded courtyard. All she needs to do is press it and follow the path that would reveal itself, and she'll have access to the Fire Lord. She's been standing out here for hours now, but she can't make the decision either way. The rage that has been simmering through all these months is tempered by a raw sense of self-preservation and decency.

Katara is finally interrupted from her staring contest by a rough bump to the shoulder. Katara swivels her head to see Zuko glaring at her.

"What's wrong?" Katara asks.

"What did you say to Uncle Iroh?" Zuko snarls.

"W-what do you mean?" Katara responds in genuine confusion.

"Don't play dumb!" Zuko yells. "Everybody knows! After meeting with grandfather, the first thing Uncle Iroh does is to pull you into a secret conversation, and then he just happens to be urgently called away right after? Without talking to anyone else? How stupid do you think we are?"

"I-I don't know what to tell you," Katara sputters. "We didn't really talk about anything special."

"If you didn't talk about anything special, then why the hell did Uncle go so far out of his way to make sure people didn't find out what you were talking about?"

It's about then that the answer to the riddle hits her. If she were to be the primary suspect of the murder right after a secret meeting with Iroh, then of course it would seem like Iroh had ordered the killing. She had already told Azula about Iroh's connection to Chang too, which would make it even harder for Iroh to defend himself.

And speaking about Chang...

"Wait a second, why am I defending myself to you? I still haven't forgiven you for what happened that night!"

"This again? I already told you then, and I'll say it again. That was just bad luck- I was just late! What reason would I have for framing you for such a thing?"

"Well, you'll just have to excuse my skepticism. You tell me to bring water to train with you, then that night you don't show up and I get caught by the guards? How stupid do you think I am?"

"Right now, I think you're plenty stupid!" Zuko responds. "It's been over two weeks! If you really think I set you up, then how about you think up of a stupid reason of why I did it first?"

…

"It's because he's jealous," Azula whispers in her ear.

When Katara had stormed back to her quarters in frustration at Zuko, she had been wholly unsurprised to see the princess there. Azula, in return, had been wholly unsurprised at Katara's rather lengthy tirade.

"Jealous?"

"Mhmm. You see, Zuko didn't take well to firebending at first, and it took him quite a while to live up to his status as a member of this family. You, on the other hand, were simply supposedly to be practice against waterbenders, but ended up learning much faster than he did. Zuko likely wanted to get rid of you before you surpassed him."

Katara can't tell if Azula's proposed explanation makes sense. Sure, it's plausible... but the actual plot seems something much more up Azula's alley, not Zuko's.

"Don't think too much on it now," Azula interrupts. "I'm watching over you now, and you can be sure that I'll be able to see anything Zuko tries coming from a mile away. Now, about the other thing..."

"I didn't do it," Katara says immediately. "I wasn't sure about it in the first place, and now I know that you wanted Iroh to take the fall for it! No matter what, my lot could be much worse right now if not for him."

Azula shrugs. "Yes, I'm aware of that. You can just forget about that for now."

"Really, just like that?"

"Of course, father would have preferred now, but there will be other chances. When father next sees an opportunity, he may make a similar offer to you. Now, I think you should get some rest."

Azula gets off the bed and exits the room, leaving Katara alone in contemplation. Once again, she recalls Zuko's description of living with this family. ' _It just feels like I'm treading water, trying not to drown...Being in this family is like being forced to play a game that I don't want any part of. You should be glad that you don't have to deal with any of this._ '

Ozai tried to kill his father and frame his brother for it, while his daughter seemed completely complicit in it. Meanwhile, Iroh himself seems to be up to something if he's keeping in secret contact with a servant. And if Azula is to be believed, Zuko has been trying his hand at plotting...

This family sucks.

* * *

A/N:

...In my defense, I did say intermittently. I've been pretty lazy about working on this fic- this chapter was sitting at 80% done for like 6 weeks. I hope someone gives me a kick to get working the next time I'm taking too long.

Next chapter: other chances


	6. Flow

Months go by, and Ozai does not call upon Katara at all, leaving her to practice her bending. In private, Katara asks Azula why Ozai is being so patient. In her time spent with Azula, she's picked up enough cunning to be able to notice several opportunities in which an assassination could have been carried out. Sure, Ozai wouldn't be able to frame Iroh as easily, but it's not like suspicion would ever fall upon Ozai- his contempt for the waterbender is no secret to anyone.

"And what about me?" asks Azula with an exaggerated pout. "I talk to you all the time. Aren't you worried that I might come under suspicion?"

"O-of course I would be worried about you!" Katara says, taken aback. "I mean, you-"

"Oh don't worry," Azula giggles, "I'd be fine. I can lie my way out of anything. I could tell them you went crazy on your own and they'd all believe me..."

...

One day, out of the blue, Azula suggests that Katara mend her relationship with Zuko. Since their argument after Chang's death, the two had avoided each other as much as possible, never even trading words if they did see each other. Katara's first instinct is to ask about the sudden change of heart.

"Maybe I just think you two would go well together," Azula responds. "I mean, the two of you are both rash, prone to outburst, and overly emotional. I can just _feel_ the passion when you two glare at each other."

"I glare at him because he got me into so much trouble! He got my friend killed!"

Azula sighs. "Look, I asked him about it. He really wasn't trying to pull anything sneaky. It was just an unfortunate and tragic accident."

Katara bites her lip. She has been working under the assumption that Zuko resented her fast progress. If it really wasn't Zuko's intention to set her up, then that means this rift between her and the prince is all her doing...

"Don't look so down," Azula says encouragingly. "Just go apologize."

"But how do I know he'll still want to talk to me?" If anything, Zuko is the one who looks more hostile when the two walk past each other.

"He'll listen to you," Azula snorts. "You're a pretty girl and he's a young, developing boy. Just put a big smile on that face of yours and he'll do anything you ask him to."

As if...

…

Katara can't believe it works. She can just picture Azula's triumphant smirk as Zuko agrees to put all their disagreements behind them. Heck, he even offers to take her outside the palace gates to have some fun.

"Wouldn't that get you in trouble with your father?" Katara asks. "I mean, I'm not technically allowed outside yet."

Zuko shrugs. "As far as I know, the rules for your being here are really pretty vague. Your position here is sort of like a servant, sort of like a slave, sort of like a tutor. But all of those are not completely confined to the palace. I'm sure father and grandfather want to keep you on a tight leash, but I don't think they've ever explicitly said to not let you leave."

"But anyways, there's plenty of stuff to do in the palace," Zuko suggests. "You are allowed to take a day or two off, right?"

The only person Katara has practiced with lately, or spent any time at all with lately, is Azula. Katara's sure that the princess won't mind if she spends practice time hanging out with Zuko instead, given that reconciliation was her idea in the first place.

That afternoon, Zuko takes Katara to parts of the palace that she hadn't been before- a room with countless priceless antiques, luxurious hot springs, the royal catacombs. They giggle, they joke, they smile, and it's one of the better days Katara has had in her time here. This kind of plain fun wasn't an option back at the Southern Water Tribe, and Katara dares to think that she might miss this if she ever makes her way back home.

The final destination of the day is a little garden with a tree and a small pond. "They say my mother used to come here to feed the turtleducks," Zuko says. "Sometimes when I miss her, I come here to feed them myself. If I'm lucky, Azula won't also coincidentally show up to throw bread at them."

"That seems like something Azula would do," Katara agrees. Even if the princess is being nice to her, her mean streak is poorly concealed.

Zuko sighs. "She just wants to make everyone and everything afraid of her. I hate that she does it, and I hate that it's somehow okay for her because she was born as a princess. Father just encourages her."

"I don't think Azula is trying to make _me_ afraid of her," Katara comments. "If anything, she's going out of her way to make me like her."

"Would you be scared of her?" Zuko counters.

"Not really, I suppose," Katara says. "Maybe when I first got here, but definitely not now."

"Then all that means is that she's using other ways to make you listen to her," Zuko replies. "Trust me, she wants you for something."

Katara chooses not to mention that Azula suggested this conversation in the first place.

…

Azula encourages Katara to spend the next day with Zuko if the prince is okay with it, deeming the day's events a grand success.

"Why not?" Zuko says. "I've only shown you a fraction of what this palace has to offer. Let's go!"

The day starts off much like the last one at first, with Zuko showing her more of the sights. There's a shrine to Agni, an Agni Kai arena, and the royal treasury. (Katara thinks the Agni Kai arena smells bad. Zuko tells her it's the sewers running underneath.)

Halfway through the day, Katara starts to hear whispers. 'Witch bewitching the impressionable prince.' 'The prince is going far beneath his station.' 'Troublemaker shouldn't be allowed to remain here.' Based on Zuko's gritted teeth, Katara supposes that Zuko can hear the whispers too.

"Don't mind them," Zuko says. "We can always have them punished later. Let's just enjoy our day now."

Their enjoyment is cut short when a servant runs to Zuko carrying a message. His father has summoned him.

…

Prince Lu Ten is dead. Killed at the siege of Ba Sing Se.

"The letter came in three days ago, but I've delayed anyone else from seeing it until today," Ozai explains. "I have thoroughly considered all possible courses of action, and have concluded that we have an opportunity here. Iroh, out of devotion to his long deceased wife, has not and will not remarry. He is completely without heirs. I intend to show Azulon that the strength of my heirs makes me the obvious choice for crown prince and successor to the throne."

To Zuko, it feels improper to plot when they should be mourning the death of a royal family member. From the looks of it, Azula has no such reservations. Nonetheless, it would be very unwise to speak against his father.

"I have requested an audience with my father," Ozai says. "You two will demonstrate your abilities to him so that I may strengthen my position."

…

With her day with Zuko cut short, Katara searches all around the palace for Azula. She checks the training areas, the dining areas, Azula's room, and her own room, but the princess is nowhere to be found. After much wandering, she is by chance passing by the throne room when she hears Ozai's voice saying, "Now, would you show grandfather the new moves you demonstrated to me?"

Curious, Katara sneaks into the throne room and hides behind a curtain. Azula goes first, and begins her most advanced form. It's one that Azula has never shown Katara, and in fact, the level of this form far surpasses any the princess has ever employed against her. 'Has she been going easy against me this whole time?' Katara wonders.

Azula completes her routine perfectly, after which it's Zuko's turn. His routine is not advanced as Azula's, but it is still impressive nonetheless. But to the surprise of everyone in the room, Zuko flubs his final maneuver, and is forced into a sloppy recovery. The displeasure on Ozai's face is clear, but Azula seems to have almost expected the slip.

"Prince Ozai, why are you wasting my time with this pomp?" Azulon yells. "Just tell me what you want. Everyone else, go!"

Zuko and Azula bow and start to leave the throne room, but then Azula pulls Zuko behind a curtain- crashing right into Katara.

"Well, this got even more interesting," Azula whispers. "Let's all listen and see how this goes."

…

"Father, you must have realized as I have, that with Lu Ten gone, Iroh's bloodline has ended," Ozai says. "After his son's death, my brother abandoned the siege at Ba Sing Se, and who knows when he will return home. But I am here, Father, and my children are alive. Father, revoke Iroh's birthright. I am your humble servant, here to serve you and our nation. Use me."

"You dare suggest I betray Iroh? My first born? Directly after the demise of his only beloved son?" Azulon says. "I did not raise you to use the misfortune of your brother and this family for your own gain. I see that I was mistaken in giving you so much freedom in your actions, as opposed to forcing you to join the military like your brother."

"Please listen to reason!" Ozai says. "Though the timing is not optimal, you surely must realize that the line of succession is now in jeopardy!"

"Of course I know that it is in jeopardy!" Azulon yells. "But do not think that you will benefit from this! Iroh will succeed me, and then he will choose the more worthy of your children as his successor!"

Katara swears she sees an angry flash of blue to her side, but when Katara glances to her side, all she sees is an angry look of concentration on Azula's face.

"Furthermore," Azulon continues, "I believe it prudent to take away some of your toys. You've had your time with the waterbender- slaughter it and dispose of it."

…

"Hide in here," Azula says, opening the door her own room. "My father won't think to look here for a while, and we can think about our next move."

"What next move is there?" Zuko asks. "Look, I don't want her to die either, but going against father when he is sure to be in an angry mood would be suicidal!"

"Just leave it to me," Azula snaps. "You just go to your room if you aren't going to contribute anything."

Zuko huffs, and pauses for a moment before finally turning to the door. The two girls watch Zuko leave, and then Azula grips Katara's shoulders tightly. "You need to take deep breaths and calm yourself," Azula commands. "Panic from here will only get you killed."

"Well it seems like any choice from me gets me killed!" Katara counters. "I can't hide forever, and it's only a matter of time before your father finds me."

"You need to properly think this through, Katara. Tell me," Azula lectures, "what is the best defense?"

"What kind of question is that?" Katara asks. Katara thinks through her waterbending lessons. "Um, the best defense is to... redirect their offense?"

"That's you applying your waterbender philosophy," Azula says. "But I think the firebending school gives a much more relevant answer here. Come, follow me. We're going for a walk."

…

Azula drags Katara along so fast that Katara soon has no idea where she is. "Where are we going?" Katara hisses. "I don't recognize this place."

"That's because you've never been in this secret pathway," Azula says. "At the end of our path lies your freedom," Azula adds cryptically.

"What does that mean?" Katara asks. "Am I escaping?"

"Not exactly," Azula replies. "To answer my previous question, the best defense is a stronger offense. I've given this much thought, Katara. You won't kill out of revenge, you won't kill out of national duty, but I'm willing to bet that you will kill in self-defense."

"Ki- wait, why do I have to kill someone? Who am I killing?"

The two come upon a door that Katara has never seen before. "Your freedom is behind this door," Azula says.

Before Katara can ask about the inhabitant, Azula shoves a waterskin into Katar's hands, opens the door, and pushes Katara through it.

…

"What is the meaning of this?" Katara hears a familiar voice asks. She raises her gaze, and locks eyes with none other than Fire Lord Azulon. "How dare you intrude upon my chambers?"

Katara's jaw drops, and Azulon continues his speech. "My worthless son hasn't killed you yet, and instead it seems you have gained the insolence to barge in here like an uncivilized beast. Well, my son has hitherto been too much bark and too little bite. I shall have to correct the problem personally."

Katara backs up in fear as flames engulf Azulon's hands, and she scrambles to the door. To her dismay, it seems that someone is holding the door closed from the outside. 'It has to be Azula. What in spirits' name is she doing?' Katara asks herself.

Turning around, Katara frantically scans the room for any water at all, before remembering the waterskin. Azulon follows her gaze, and cackles, "What? Are you looking for a weapon to kill me with? Do you think that is enough to kill me? How dare you even think that someone of your station could kill a Fire Lord!"

The waterskin suddenly feels hot in Katara's hands, and a burst of steam shoots out from it, dissipating into the air. "You only live because my son Iroh wished it," Azulon continues. "And it is clear that you forget your place. You are nothing but a slave who lives to serve the wishes of the Fire Lord. And now the Fire Lord wishes you to die."

Katara can barely hear Azulon's next words over the thumping of her blood, can barely concentrate over the weight of all the incessant throbbing surrounding her. She closes her eyes, brings her hand to clutch her forehead. After all that has happened, _this_ is how she is going to die? She had finally gotten over fearing for her life, had finally begun to make something of her life here. Katara grits her teeth, clenches her fists in frustration, and as if in sync with her, the pressure around her seems to beat faster in turn. Katara can somehow sense the epicenter of all this pressure, and focuses on that. Katara squeezes harder and harder, until finally she feels a pop and everything falls silent and Katara collapses in exhaustion.

As Katara lies there, she registers a lack of angry shouting. Opening her eyes, she is greeted by a look of surprise and shock. Fire Lord Azulon lies twitching on the ground, mouth agape, eyes bulging out, veins and arteries perfectly visible against his skin.

As Katara's brain struggles to catch up to what is going on, Azula opens the door and shuts it behind her silently. "I see you won," Azula observes. "Honestly, I had no idea about what odds you had, but believe me when I say that I hoped for this outcome."

Azulon's eyes swing over to Azula, and Katara is sure they would have widened in surprise over the betrayal if Azulon had control over his eye muscles. Azula kneels down next to the Fire Lord, pressing her thumb against his neck before poking at his limbs. "I'd say he's completely paralyzed right now," Azula says, "and he's probably going to pass on in the next hour. If you want to give him a victory speech or something, now's your chance."

"Victory speech?" Katara asks.

"Yeah," says Azula. "You know, talk about how he didn't notice the threat in his household until it was too late? How he deserves this for the Southern Raiders? How you hope he rots in hell?"

"What? Why would I do that? That seems needlessly cruel!"

Azula sighs. "You still have a long way to go. Oh well, we better get this over with before someone discovers us."

Azula rummages around the room and plucks out a sock from a drawer. Folding it into a ball, she stuffs it down Azulon's throat and waits for the Fire Lord to choke to death. Azulon convulses for a few more moments before the light finally leaves his eyes, and Azula carefully plucks out the sock and puts it in her pocket.

"We should go," she tells Katara.

Although Katara had professed to not being scared of Azula, the nonchalant look that the princess gives her after committing cold-blooded murder terrifies her.

...

Azula leads Katara back to the princess' room, and Katara breathes a sigh of relief. "Well, that's over and done with," Azula says. "I wasn't picturing strangulation, but dead is dead. Your hands didn't even leave marks where your fingers were, so I think it'll look like a heart attack."

"I didn't strangle him," Katara replies numbly.

"Well, I don't suppose he happened to die of natural causes right in middle of his shouting?"

Come to think of it, Katara still has no idea what happened. All she can remember was shouting, pressure, then silence...

As Katara contemplates and Azula looks on with suspicion, the two girls are interrupted by Ozai, who enters the room and asks, "Azula, have you seen the waterb-"

Ozai's hands flare up as he catches sight of Katara, but Azula places herself in between them. "Not now, father. There is much more you have to do tonight."

"Step aside, Azula! What are you talking about?" Ozai asks angrily.

"The Fire Lord is dead," Azula tells her father. "You should start forging a will. There might not be much time before he is discovered, and it would be very beneficial if his last act was naming you as his successor."

Ozai's eyes narrow. "I suppose this was your doing?"

"I would never admit to such a thing," Azula scoffs.

Ozai grins happily, and leaves the room. Katara releases the breath she didn't realize she was holding, before remembering the deal that had been struck earlier. "Azula, this means I can return home, right? Your father got what he wanted!"

"That might not be a guarantee," Azula says ruefully. "My father did not tell you to act tonight, and he may use that to renege on his end." Seeing the sad look on Katara's face, Azula hastily adds, "Don't worry, I will speak to my father for you."

Azula flinches as Katara envelops her in a sudden hug. "Thank you," Katara tells the princess. "I knew I could count on you!"

* * *

A/N:

So this was sitting around 50% done a month ago, then I got it to 90% two weeks ago, then I finished it tonight. I probably could be writing this much faster- I blame Overwatch.

A question- I've been dropping hints that Azula has been doing her own things behind the scenes, out of Katara's view. With regard to what exactly Azula's done, am I being too subtle, not subtle enough, or just about right?

Next: Katara doesn't return home.


	7. Protection

Katara can't get to sleep that night. The prospect of finally being able to get out of the Fire Nation is too exciting to be able to get to any rest. She alternates between lying down, checking the hallway, and hopping around skittishly. Finally, after what seems like hours, she hears soft knocking at her door.

Katara flies immediately to the door, yanking it open to find the princess behind it. Katara's wide smile is dashed instantly when she sees the somber look on Azula's face, and realizes that her dreams have been crushed.

"I tried to convince him," Azula begins, "but he said that we did not consult him and acted on our own. So he doesn't have to hold up his end of the deal."

"That isn't fair!" Katara cries. "Why does he care so much about keeping me here?"

"That's just how my father is," Azula answers sadly. "I managed to convince him to give you some liberties. You are allowed to leave the palace any time now. I'm sorry, but it was the best I could do."

…

"Azulon. Fire Lord to our nation for twenty-three years. You were our fearless leader in the Battle of Garsai. Our matchless conqueror of the Hu Xin Provinces. You were father of Iroh, father of Ozai, husband of Ilah, now passed. Grandfather of Lu Ten, now passed. Grandfather of Zuko, and Azula. We lay you to rest. As was your dying wish, you are now succeeded by your second son. Hail Fire Lord Ozai!"

Katara stands bitterly in the servants' section as Ozai is crowned, barely listening as the priest makes his speech, glaring at Ozai's smug face. Behind him, Azula's and Zuko's faces are expressionless, as if there were nothing special about this day. Azula in particular looks like she's about to doze off.

After the coronation, Katara returns to her quarters. There is something that she has been planning to do, which she could not until she obtained permission to leave the palace. Rummaging under her bed, she quickly digs out a dusty box, opening it to look at the ashes inside. It's at that point that Katara suddenly realizes she has no idea where Chang's family lives. However, it's still early in the day- Katara probably has time to ask around to see if anybody knows where he lived, and still make it there by nighttime.

Katara recalls Chang mentioning a servant named Hong several times during their conversations. She heads out into the hallways, flagging down a nearby servant to ask if she knows someone named Hong. The servant directs her to the kitchens, and Katara thanks her for the help.

When Katara finds Hong, the man tells her that he would be glad to help her get to Chang's house, but it would have to wait until evening when he can go home. He asks for Katara to wait in her room, as Hong knows where Katara is living and thus would be able to find her easily.

…

"Azula, last night you showed remarkable initiative and creativity."

"Thank you, father," Azula replies, her head bowed low.

"Zuko, yesterday you showed none of the initiative and creativity that your sister possesses, and you made a mistake with your kata."

"I am sorry, father," Zuko replies, his head bowed low.

"You had been growing into a fine heir for me, Zuko," Ozai says, "but your sister has demonstrated that she is far more worthy to succeed me."

As Azula smirks, unseen by the other two due to her hair and position, Zuko protests, "But I am the firstborn! It is my right to be your successor!"

"The winds are changing, son," Ozai says. "My father saw the wisdom in superseding birth order in favor of other beneficial characteristics... unless you wish to doubt his decision?"

Zuko grits his teeth. "Of course not, father."

"Very well, you are dismissed."

After Zuko leaves, Ozai turns his attention to Azula. "Daughter, I am feeling most generous this day. I gave you a small reward last night, but I do not feel that the gift is of the magnitude you deserve. Is there anything else you wish for?"

"Father, I would like to learn to bend lightning."

…

Hong picks up Katara from her room that evening. "Come, young one," he tells her, and Katara grabs her box. As the two make their way to the gates, they are stopped by the two guards posted at the gate.

"Halt!" one of them says. "Although the princess has indicated that you are permitted to leave the palace, know that you are to return tonight, or else we will have to assume that you are trying to escape. Do you understand this?"

Katara nods, eager to get to Chang's house. "Very well, have a safe night," the other guard says.

The city is captivating. Even though the sun has set, the streets are bustling with life, lit by countless lanterns. People of all sorts walk through the streets- nobles, slaves, merchants, craftsmen. Katara can't help but gaze around in wonder- never has she seen so many people all in one place.

Katara feels a tug at her sleeve. As she looks up, Hong tells her that she must hurry, for she must complete her business and return to the palace as quickly as possible. She will have plenty of other chances to admire the city.

Hong leads her off the main street. After a few turns down smaller streets, the difference is conspicuous- it reeks of garbage, and homeless people sit off to the sides. They eventually come upon a door, which Hong knocks on. A middle-aged woman answers the door.

"Hong! How unexpected! What brings you here?"

"This girl, actually," Hong replies. "She has something for you."

The woman turns her sights on Katara. "The color of your skin... you must be Katara! Oh, Chang told us about you! Please, come in!"

Hong chuckles. "I myself cannot stay, but I hope you accomplish what you came for, Katara. Be safe!"

The woman ushers Katara in. "Oh, may I offer you some tea? Wait, how rude of me, I haven't even introduced myself! I'm Yui. My son is in the other room. Also, Hong said you were here for something?"

Katara bites her lip and shuffles her feet slightly. "Yes... it's actually about Chang. I... I have his ashes," Katara tells her, showing the box.

Yui pauses from her tea making, and tears start to form in her eyes. "Oh... it's been months. I had lost hope of ever getting those back. Thank you... Thank you so much."

A boy around Katara's age saunters into the room, yelling, "Moooom! I'm hungry, did you make those buns yet?" Noticing Katara, he asks, "Who is this?"

"This is Katara," Yui replies. "She knew your father."

"Oh," the boy mumbles, "does that mean she's a spy too?"

"Koto!" Yui scolds. "You mustn't talk to people like that? It's horribly rude!"

"So what?" Koto responds. "She's a foreigner. If father was in cahoots with foreigners, it makes sense that she's one of them. I'll be in my room." The boy leaves, taking with him a plate of buns that were on the dining room table.

As Katara hears a door slam shut, Yui says, "Oh, please forgive him. He's had a tough time at school since his father died, so he's just been in a bad mood recently. He's usually much more cheerful. Now, please, have some tea."

As Katara and Yui trade stories of Chang, Katara starts to see the fakeness in Yui's face. There are bags under her eyes that are hidden by makeup, and the edges of her smile twitch, betraying her lack of cheer. Koto is not the only one who's been affected by Chang's death, and Katara's coming here may have opened up old wounds.

Eventually, Yui rises from the table. "I'm sorry, but I must be going to bed," she says apologetically. "I still have to work tomorrow. You are welcome to stay the night though, if you wish."

A jolt of panic rushes through Katara as she realizes how late it is. "No, I must be returning to the palace," she says.

"Do you know the way back?" Yui asks.

"More or less," Katara says. "We can see the palace from here, so I know the general direction. By the way, may I visit you more?"

"Unfortunately, that may be quite hard," Yui answers. "We are actually planning to move back to my home village after Koto's school year ends next week. I'm sorry."

"Oh... that's no worry."

"Please be safe on your way home. It's a full moon tonight, so it should be bright enough to see where you are going."

…

Katara quickly gets lost in the streets. The buildings are tall enough that Katara can't find the palace, and she soon loses her sense of direction. At this time of night, the only people left in the streets are people going home from bars and brothels, and the homeless who are trying to doze off for the night. Katara stays on the lookout for a city guard, but it seems that this section of the city isn't well patrolled.

If only she can find the main street, Katara thinks, she will be able to make her way back.

Katara suddenly hears rowdy laughing in front of her. There are two there, and they look relatively well dressed and sober. Maybe she can ask for directions.

"Oh my, what do we have here?" asks one of the men.

"A little Water Tribe girl," answers the other men. "My, are you lost?"

Katara nods eagerly. "Yes, I'm looking for the-"

"Hey, Ming, where do you think she's supposed to be?" asks the second man, completely ignoring Katara's words.

"Well, Gao, there aren't many Water Tribe people around," the first man says, scratching his chin. "You only really find them in brothels, although this one looks young."

"Some like them that way," Gao says. "Maybe some lord paid extra for this one."

"Well, she's certainly pretty enough if you have that kind of money," Ming says. "Hey, no one's around. Why don't we get a taste of the good life?"

Katara backs up as the two men turn to her with sinister looks on their eyes. "Be a good girl and stay still," one says, "and it may not hurt as much."

As the two advance, Katara calls up water from the nearby puddles. There is no way she's letting two scumbags like these two have their way.

"Oh man, she's a waterbender!" one of the two laughs. "You've just made a big mistake, girl," he continues, as both of the men call flames to their hands.

As Katara fights the two, it becomes clear that she's the superior bender. The two men combined don't have the offensive intensity that Azula has, and Katara finds herself easily handling the two, even forcing them back. However, just as she's about to knock one of them out, she's suddenly grabbed from behind. There's a third man, Katara realizes. She tries to wriggle free, but she's not strong enough to break the man's firm hold.

"There you are, Lang!" Gao says. "This one's certainly got some fight in her. Hold her down, you two."

As two of the men hold down her legs and arms, Katara feels the same fear from the night before coursing through her veins. Her heartbeat is racing, but she somehow can also feel the steady anticipation coming from the man standing directly over her. Katara's fingers twitch involuntarily, and the man's right arm suddenly jerks to the side in response.

"What the hell?" Gao asks incredulously, looking at his arm. Katara squeezes her hand, and suddenly Gao crouches down in pain, clutching his chest. Ming rushes to his side, freeing up Katara's left arm. Having no idea how this can be happening, Katara swings her left arm with all her might, causing Gao's head to turn violently. Lang lets go of her other arm in panic, and rushes to Gao's side too.

"He's dead!" Ming exclaims. "What the hell did you do to him, you witch?"

Katara rises slowly, her hair falling in clumps all around her face. She summons water to her side, forming it into icicle spears. "I think you should get away from me," she says in a threatening tone. The two men scramble away, leaving Katara standing over the corpse of a man she had killed.

…

"Oh, you're finally back. Do you realize how late it is? You are not supposed to stay out this long!"

Katara glares at the guard through dead eyes, and the guard recoils in fear.

…

Katara doesn't leave her room except to eat for the next few days. Her consecutive nights of terror have raised so many questions. How was she able to bend the other person? What happens to low class people who murder Fire Nation citizens?

Why doesn't she feel guilty about it?

She thinks all life is precious, right? Even the person is as terrible as the men who attacked her? Killing is always wrong! So what should she think about herself now? She technically hadn't killed Azulon (it had been Azula who made the final blow), but now she can't dodge the truth that she is a murderer.

She can't get Azula's words out of her head. _'You won't kill out of revenge, you won't kill out of national duty, but I'm willing to bet that you will kill in self-defense.'_ Maybe she doesn't feel guilty about it because she killed in self-defense? That has to be a mitigating factor, right? When Fire Nation soldiers first attacked the Southern Water Tribe, the men fought back and killed some. They certainly didn't feel guilty about it.

There's a knock on her door, and Azula lets herself in before Katara can even answer. "There you are!" Azula says. "Where have you been? Have you been avoiding me? You can't possibly be blaming me for your not being able to return to your home, are you?"

It is then that Azula sees the sullen look on Katara's face. Sitting down next to Katara on her bed, she asks sympathetically, "What's wrong?"

Katara mulls over the best way to start, before finally asking, "Azula, why are you okay with killing?"

"Oh, is this about me killing grandfather? Look, we couldn't let him live, not after what you did to him. I know you don't like killing, but that's the reality of it. If it makes you feel better, you can pretend that I did all the work, and that your hands are clean."

"It's not that," Katara says. "You looked so calm while doing it. Even if it's necessary, don't you feel bad about what you did?"

"Why would I feel back about that?" Azula asks. "Look, don't tell anything I'm about to tell you, okay?"

Katara nods, eager to hear what Azula is going to say.

"The truth is, I've always been a killer," Azula says. "My mother died giving birth to me, which means that I killed a family member closer to me than my grandfather was without even trying to. So I figured that I should never let killing bother me any more."

Katara's jaw drops in shock. "That's not right! You didn't mean to kill your mother! It wasn't your fault!"

"Tell that to Zuko," Azula says bitterly. "You should have heard him. 'I wish mother were here instead of you! But you killed her!' What a brother, right?"

"It can't be true!" Katara protests, tears forming in her eyes. "If that's the case, then that means I've always been a killer too!"

It is Azula's turn to have her jaw drop in shock. "Does... does that mean that your mother also died giving birth to you?"

Katara nods, tears falling freely now. Azula takes Katara's hands into her own, telling her in a soothing tone, "Look, just forget what I said, alright? You aren't a killer. You didn't kill your mother, and you didn't kill my grandfather. You aren't a killer. You are a better person than I am."

To Azula's confusion, this just makes Katara cry even harder. "What's wrong?" Azula asks. "Is this something else besides your mother that's causing this?"

Katara nods. "You see... something happened three nights ago."

"Three nights ago? So that was... the night after my grandfather died? Hmmm... wait, I recall the guards informing me that you returned very late. Did something happen?"

Katara nods again. "Well, there's been gossip going around town," Azula continues. "Two men claimed that they were attacked by a water demon out in the streets that night, killing their friend. I just dismissed it as the stories of drunk men, but there something more to it, isn't there?

Katara nods a third time. "I think you had better tell me what happened," Azula orders her.

…

'Ugh, why am I caring so much?' Azula wonders. It makes no sense that she should care about the affairs of someone so far beneath her, even telling the waterbender about her mother and retracting one of her own statements. 'It's just hurting my training schedule,' Azula decides. 'That's the only reason I'm going out of my way to make her comfortable.'

Azula arrives at the training area, where Ozai is waiting. "There you are, Azula. Are you ready to begin your lesson?"

Azula nods. "The first thing to do is to is to clear your mind of emotion," Ozai lectures. "Achieve inner calm."

'Should be easy,' Azula thinks.

'Next, you must separate the energies of yin and yang, like so," Ozai says, demonstrating as he moves his arms in a circle, with Azula following suit.

"Finally, bring your hands together like so, joining the energies together to form lightning." Sparks fly from Ozai's hands, and he shoots the lightning at a target, utterly destroying it.

Azula feels an incredible rush as she follows the motions that Ozai is doing. There's a light buzz flowing through her arms, begging to get out, and Azula acquiesces as she brings her two index fingers together. A brilliant ball of energy forms in between the two fingers, and Azula's eyes widen in admiration.

Azula hears a gasp behind her and turns to look, seeing Katara.

Then the light buzz intensifies.

…

As Katara lies on her bed, she hears a servant talking about Azula. "The youngest person to ever learn lightningbending!" the servant gushes. "And Fire Lord Ozai is teaching her! Oh, how I wish I could go watch!"

Lightningbending. The last time she had seen it was when Iroh had taught her how to redirect it. Iroh has warned Katara that she may become a target of Ozai's lightning in the future. The thought is enough to temporarily break Katara's lethargy.

Katara makes her way to the palace's main training area, where a small crowd is quietly watching. Katara gasps in surprise as Azula seems to effortlessly generate a ball of lightning on her first try.

Azula turns around and sees her. With the concentration broken, the ball of lightning begins to creep up Azula's arms.

In panic, Azula separates her fingers, but it is too late. The lightning has reached her shoulders. Katara remembers Iroh's words- one must redirect lightning around the heart through the stomach. Does Azula know?

Azula stands frozen in place, eyes wide in terror. The lightning is causing her muscles to become unresponsive, and Azula can't even point her fingers in any direction to discharge the lightning. There's a stench of burnt cloth as Azula's boots begin to visibly melt, and Azula lets out an inhuman shriek.

Katara legs subconsciously bring her to Azula's side. Taking a deep breath and remembering her training, Katara grabs Azula's hand. The princess' eyes widen in surprise- she must believe what Katara is doing is akin to suicide. Katara feels the familiar feeling of lightning flowing down her arm, and focuses on redirecting it through her stomach and out the other hand, which she points at the sky.

The sheer amount of lightning is much more than Iroh ever trained her with, and it seems like Katara is discharging lightning for a full minute before it is finally all gone. Azula collapses to the ground, still holding Katara's hand for dear life, which causes Katara to fall beside her.

"It seems as if I have severely overestimated your abilities," Katara hears, and she looks up to see Ozai already turning to leave. The devastation on Azula's face in completely evident, and Katara gives Azula a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder.

When Azula turns to face Katara, the look on her face is one Katara has never seen directed at her from Azula.

Awe.

* * *

A/N:

I basically wrote this in one night without really proofreading, so I apologize if the quality is bad.

This chapter has a bunch of important moments- this story's premise of their mothers dying in childbirth finally shows up, and Katara's lightning redirection comes into play. And more bloodbending.

Next chapter: Tying up loose ends from this chapter. A changed dynamic between Azula and Katara.


	8. Mistruth

After the training accident, Azula avoids Katara for the next few days. Even more strangely, the palace guards have been blocking her entry whenever see tries to see either Azula or Ozai. "The Fire Lord is occupied right now," or "The princess is not in the palace at the moment." The idea to take Zuko's previous offer of exploring the city pops into her head, but he is apparently starting to attend war meetings.

Five days later, as Katara lounges around in her quarters, there is a knock on her door. When she opens it, a servant tells her that the princess has requested her presence. Remembering the look of awe Azula gave her and eager to see where she stands now with the princess, Katara immediately departs with the servant.

As the servant leads Katara through the palace, it becomes clear to her that she's not headed to the royal quarters, or the throne room, or the training areas, or none of the places that Azula seems to frequent. In fact, she's only been down this path once before- on a night that saw her first friend in this palace killed.

She's headed towards the dungeons.

Katara suppresses her panic. It's not like she's going to be locked up, right? She just saved the life of the princess! Or is Ozai making a play by locking up Azulon's true killer? But that would change the natural death narrative Ozai was pushing for, wouldn't it?

As Katara follows the servant down hallways that are progressively less well lit, Katara begins to hear screams of pain. Katara can see a blue glow of light coming from a cell further down, which is extinguished when the servant announces, "I've brought the waterbender as requested, princess."

Azula strolls out of the cell, clad in a simple tunic. Without Azula's flame illuminating the hallway, Katara can't clearly make out the details of Azula's clothing, but she's pretty sure there are darker patches splattered over her tunic. Katara can also barely make out two human shapes inside the cell.

There's also the smell of charred flesh.

"Ah, you're finally here," Azula tells her. "You know, it's rude to keep our guests waiting."

Guests? "Azula, what's going on?"

"It's simple really," Azula says. "That story you told me the other day really touched my heart. I mean, the people of the Fire Nation pride themselves on not being utter barbarians. So I asked around the city, and those two men were so happy that the princess of the Fire Nation had taken a personal interest in their case. Then I invited then to the palace, and kept interviewing them until they told me an accurate version of events."

A loud groan emanates from the cell behind Azula, and Katara asks, "Who is in there?"

"Well, your attackers, obviously," Azula replies.

"But why are they down here? Shouldn't they be on trial or something?"

"Why would they need a trial? They attempted rape, tried to lie to me of all people about it, then corroborated your story. And then they tried to defend themselves by saying that it doesn't count as rape because you were less than human. You, who saved my life! I'd say they deserve this, wouldn't you say?"

Katara doesn't reply, remembering how the late Fire Lord Azulon had referred to her multiple times as 'it'. She supposes she shouldn't be surprised at how casually Azula talks about torture, given that she felt no guilt about murdering her grandfather. Deep down, Katara wonders if she's heading down that path, and killing her attacker that night is just one step of it.

Azula misinterprets Katara's silence. "Oh, how rude of me! I shouldn't be the one to decide what they deserve! After all, you are the one they attacked. Please tell me, what should I do with them?"

Katara shrugs. "Why don't you lock them up like regular criminals? I doubt you need to put them in the palace dungeons."

Azula sighs, and Katara can tell that her response wasn't the one that Azula wanted to hear. "Yes, I suppose we will just keep them locked up. However, by lying to me, they committed a crime against the royal family, so they must be kept here. I suppose we are done here now, so let us depart. There's a restaurant in the city that I want to show you."

…

"How did you know how to deflect my lightning?"

The two girls had walked wordlessly back to the sunlit outdoors and reached the palace gates before Azula broke the silence. Katara isn't sure how to respond- she's not sure Iroh would appreciate Katara telling Azula where she learned the technique.

"I don't really know," Katara lies. "I just saw you were in serious danger, and I just ran in to help."

"Well then, I suppose I'm extraordinarily lucky that you were there," Azula says. "Say, you've been looking a little down recently. Is this still about how you feel guilty about killing that man?"

Katara nods, and Azula continues, "Well, you shouldn't worry about that. I think you are naturally someone who wants to save people. You saved me, and you didn't want harsh treatment for those two men, even though I would have taken glee in making the rest of their lives miserable."

Their conversation is cut short when they walk past two women at the palace gates. "Please," one of the women asks the guard. "My husband was invited to the palace two days ago to help with a criminal investigation, and he still has not returned. What has happened to him? Is he still there?"

Azula slides up behind the guard, and says smoothly, "Please allow me to address your situation."

The guard and both women immediately drop to their knees, shouting, "Princess Azula!"

"Please rise," Azula tells them. "About your husbands- there's been a series of similar attacks throughout the Fire Nation, and since they are the only ones alive who saw their attacker, we have asked them to assist in finding the attacker. They are currently in Fire Fountain City, and we do not expect them to be returning to the capital for some time. I apologize for the inconvenience."

…

"Have you talked to my brother recently?" Azula asks as the two are led to their table.

"No, it seems like he's been busy lately. Every time I ask, it seems like he's at a war meeting or hearing or something."

Azula grimaces. "I suppose he has been busy. With my recent... incident, my brother has regained favor with my father. And honestly, he's way past the age when he should have started attending those meetings."

Katara doesn't quite get how this favor stuff works. "From your face, I'd guess ... that's bad?"

"Of course it's bad!" Azula yells, before calming herself down. "Look, it probably won't affect you since you are friendly with both Zuzu and me. But what I get depends on how much favor I have with my father."

The waiter comes by to take their order, and after he leaves, Katara dares to ask about something that's been bothering her.

"Azula, why did you lie to those women?"

Azula regards Katara in confusion. "Should I have told them the truth?"

"Well..."

"If I had told them the truth, then they would return home knowing that their husbands are scum. This way, they can remain in whatever false belief about their husbands that they have. Isn't that better?"

This explanation placates Katara somewhat. "I guess that's better... still, you came up with that lie pretty fast."

"Lot's of practice," Azula answers. Both girls eat in silence, as Katara digests Azula's words.

"Azula, how much do you lie to me?"

Azula chews on her food for a moment, thinking how best to answer. "Would you believe that I only lie to you to make you feel better?"

"Wha- what does that even mean? So you do lie to me?"

Azula sighs. "I suppose you might have found out eventually. Look, remember those ashes I gave you?" Katara nods.

"Well, when I went looking for the ashes, I found that they had already been disposed of. So I just burned some wood, and gave you those ashes instead. It made you feel better, and I would assume it make your friend's family feel better when you returned them. Do you see how a lie can sometimes be good?"

"W- well, I suppose that makes sense. But lying is still bad!"

Azula shrugs. "Well, it's not like you don't lie."

The bold statement catches Katara off guard. "Wha- what could you mean?"

Azula smirks. "We both know you didn't just redirect lightning on instinct. Father surmised that my fuddy-duddy uncle taught you the technique, and I'm inclined to agree with him. Isn't that right?"

Katara nods meekly, and Azula says, "Don't be like that. You were just trying to protect someone you like, and you gave a lie that wouldn't affect me negatively. Do you see what I am trying to say now?"

Katara nods again. Azula signals for the check, and tells Katara, "Anyways, it doesn't really matter since I can tell when you are lying. Now, about that skill of yours. Father has ordered that you be present whenever I have a lightning bending lesson, and I have one later today."

The true implication of Azula's words don't hit Katara until later that night. Azula can tell when Katara is lying, but Katara can't read Azula's lies at all.

…

Azula's lightningbending lessons continue to be a disaster. Some days she can't control the lightning she generates, sometimes the amount of lightning she generates is too small, and one day she doesn't generate any at all. On that day, Ozai declares that Azula's lessons are over, as she clearly is not ready to learn such an advanced skill.

Azula chooses to vent her frustration by recommencing her sparring sessions with Katara. The increase in pace is jarring, as Azula trades precision for raw power. Although Azula's recent attempts at improving her bending have fallen flat, the true disparity in their skill is incredibly evident. Katara barely manages to dodge most of Azula's attacks, and she ends the day with singed clothes that aren't going to be salvageable.

As Katara nurses her wounds in her quarters, she decides that she isn't too worried about this change. This isn't new for her- back when she first started learning, and again when Azula focused on her training in earnest, Azula had bent at a level far above her own. Both times, she had risen to the challenge. This time, Katara is sure she will further improve her skills.

It takes six sets of ruined clothes, but eventually Katara ends the day without a scratch. It's a small victory, but she never had a chance to throw out a single offensive strike, so she still has a long way to go.

…

"Hey, can you help me try out a new move?"

Katara turns to the prince, and is surprised by the sight. Zuko is dressed in formal military attire, and looks rather exhausted. (Katara remembers Azula's rather frequent complaints about Zuko being allowed to attend war meetings.)

"Sure!" Katara replies. "I mean, that's technically what my position in this palace is, isn't it?"

"Well, I don't suppose you could consider it a favor for a friend, instead of something you have to do for your job?" Zuko asks, wagging his tongue. "I mean, one way sounds much better."

"Sure, call it a favor," Katara giggles. "Come on, let's go to the arena."

As the two walk, Katara can tell that Zuko is itching to say something. "Spit it out," Katara demands.

Zuko sighs. "Fine. I've noticed that you go to Azula's lightning bending lessons, even though there's nothing for you to do there. Why? Isn't there something better you could be doing with your time?"

"Of course I need to be there. I-" Katara suddenly stops. If Zuko's asking this, then it clearly means that he hasn't heard about her ability to redirect lightning. Come to think of it, Azula had mentioned making sure any witnesses knew not to say anything. "How much do you know?"

"I just know that her lessons haven't been going well, and father has stopped them. Why, is there something else?"

A near death experience? "No, that's basically it," Katara says. "Zuko, can I ask you a question now?"

"Sure, go for it," Zuko says.

"Well, Azula told me about your mother, and how you basically said you wished Azula was dead instead of her. Did you really say that?"

"Wow, I'm really surprised Azula told you that," Zuko says. "Look, Azula had just thrown food at me, I got angry, I said something I shouldn't have said. That's all there is to tell."

The two walk for several more minutes in awkward silence before finally reaching the arena. "We're here- let's see this new move of yours."

Zuko nods."Alright, so I'm supposed to move my arms around like this..." After a little charge-up, Zuko shoots out a mighty blast of fire. It's one of Azula's favorite strikes and one that Katara has been the target of dozens of times, and Katara easily deflects it.

"Hmm, maybe I didn't do it right," Zuko says. "Let me try it again." Once again, Katara easily blocks it.

"Oh come on!" Zuko complains. "Azula completely knocked me off my feet when she used it on me!"

"Well, she's probably known the move for a while," Katara offers. "You just need to practice the move more, and I'm sure it will be just as strong as when she does it!"

"Forget it," Zuko huffs. "Let's just spar- I haven't had anyone to fight against in a while besides Azula, and I think she's been going easy on me lately. I think she's been improving much faster than I am."

Katara doesn't want to say it out loud, but after a rough week of training with Azula, Zuko's moves seem positively sluggish by comparison. She's a bit lazy with her footwork, and still manages to send Zuko to the floor three times in a row.

Katara offers her hand to Zuko to pull him up, but on the third time, Zuko slaps her hand away. "Screw this," he yells. "You're just like Azula! I knew it was bad for you to spend so much time with her!"

…

"I think I messed up," Katara says glumly.

"What did you do?" Azula asks.

"I think Zuko's mad at me because I beat him too easily."

"He's jealous," Azula says matter-of-factly. "Even though Zuzu started firebending lessons earlier, I passed him soon after I started my own. He reacted the same way. I wouldn't worry about it- he'll come around. Random question- do you know a Hakoda?"

Katara jolts forward. "Hakoda? Why do you know him? What happened?"

"Nothing major," Azula says. "Apparently this Hakoda person is the chief of the Southern Water Tribe, and he has been causing a lot of trouble for our merchant ships in the south. There's going to be a war meeting to discuss what to do about it. Why- who is this Hakoda to you?"

"He's my father. Please, can you get me into that war meeting?"

* * *

A/N:

Shorter chapter this time around. Mostly filler, setting up for the next chapter, which is going to be a very important point in the story.

Next: War meeting and its aftermath.


	9. Inconsistency

"I'm not allowed to attend war meetings yet, so we have to be really sneaky about this," Azula says. "Follow me, I think I know the perfect hiding spot for this situation."

"The room that the war meeting is taking place in is this way," Azula whispers five minutes later, as she leads Katara through a secret passageway. "This hallway passes right behind the meeting room- we'll be able to spy and eavesdrop on the meeting completely unnoticed."

Katara hears the droning of voices ahead, and realizes that the meeting has already begun. Through the cracks in the wall, she catches sight of Zuko sitting at the end of the table, a grouchy look on his face. At the head of the table sits none other than Fire Lord Ozai. At first, Katara listens intently as the generals give progress reports on the Earth Kingdom, but soon boredom sets in, as talk of troop counts, casualty statistics, and planned attacks force her nearly to sleep.

Katara is about to doze off when she finally hears what she's been waiting for. "Fire Lord Ozai, I believe we need to discuss the situation in the southern seas."

"Very well, General Zhao, go ahead," says Ozai, gesturing for him to continue.

"Ever since you put the Southern Raiders on hold after your coronation, the barbarians of the Southern Water Tribe have grown more bold. They have been attacking our merchant ships, causing disruption to our economy in the south. I believe we must re-mobilize the Southern Raiders to combat this threat at once."

"I believe we need to go farther than that," says a second general. Katara recognizes him as the one who had earlier callously suggested sacrificing a unit of new troops as bait.

"Is that so, General Bujing?" asks Ozai. "Tell me what you would suggest."

"Burn it all to the ground," says the general. "We need to destroy their hope."

Mutters of agreement circle the room as the generals nod in approval, causing Katara's hands to fly to her mouth in horror. Tears forming in her eyes, she turns to Azula, who gives her a gentle squeeze on her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure Zuzu will speak up to oppose to such a thing. He's your friend, right?"

Zuko doesn't say a word.

"Why isn't he saying anything?" Katara asks. "He can't be okay with this, can he?"

"Maybe this has to do with your fight yesterday," Azula suggests. "Maybe this is out of spite for you."

"Please, you can't let them do it," Katara pleads. "Please, let me go speak to Zuko."

Azula nods. "Okay. If he's willing to listen to anyone, it's probably you. But it would probably be best to not mention me when you are trying to persuade him. It would probably lower your chances of success. Let's wait for a recess before you go talk to him- there should be one coming up soon."

…

The first thing Katara does when she sees Zuko is slap him. "How could you?" she yells in frustration.

"Wha- what did I do?" Zuko asks in confusion.

"I heard about what happened in there!" Katara says. "I know you didn't say anything when they said they were going to destroy the Southern Water Tribe. That's my home, Zuko! Does that mean nothing to you?"

"Look," Zuko hisses, "it's not like I have much pull in there. I'm only supposed to sit and observe. I don't have any military experience, so it's not like they'll listen to me."

"Please," Katara begs. "You're the prince. You outrank them. They have to listen to you. I'm a friend, right? Look at it like a favor to a friend."

"Alright, fine," Zuko sighs. "Look, I have to get back in there. I'll come up with some reason why we shouldn't go after your home, okay?"

…

"How did it go?" Azula asks, once Katara rejoins her in the secret passageway.

"He said he would do it," Katara answers.

"That's good," Azula says, her tone tinged with happiness and relief.

The meeting resumes. "We were just discussing the Southern Water Tribe," says Ozai. "General Bujing has suggested that we destroy the Southern Water Tribe, and it seems that no one opposes it. Now all that remains to is to determine who shall be given the task."

"I disagree!" Zuko declares, rising from his seat and causing all the generals to swing their heads toward him in surprise. Apparently not noticing Ozai's fuming look, Zuko continues, "I don't believe the Southern Water Tribe is a big enough threat to warrant such a use of resources."

"What?" General Bujing yells. "What do you know, little boy? I have more years of waging war than you have years! How dare you disrespect me in such a way!"

"I am a prince!" Zuko counters. "It is you who should not be talking to me like that."

"The general is correct, Zuko. This is indeed a grave show of disrespect," Ozai sighs. "I have allowed you to observe these meetings provided you stay silent, and your first words here are to speak in the defense of a pathetic place that hardly counts as a nation? I think that girl has been whispering too many things in your ear. There is only one way to settle such a show of disrespect."

…

"I heard you got yourself into an Agni Kai," Azula says, as she watches Zuko warm up. "Now, how in the world would that have happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Zuko huffs. "I have to prepare for my Agni Kai against the general. He's old and hasn't done anything for years besides sit in war meetings, and I'm in the best form of my life. This is going to be easy."

…

"This is all my fault this is all my fault this is all my fault this is-"

"Katara, get a hold of yourself!" Azula yells, gripping Katara by the shoulders and shaking her. "You can't take it back now. Zuzu has to handle this on his own. You should trust in his abilities."

"I have to do something!" Katara protests. "I shouldn't have acted so rashly. I should have waited until a better time. This is all my fault this is all my fault this is all my fault this is-"

...

Azula and Katara shove their way past a large crowd before eventually getting a spot with a decent view (something difficult considering their relatively short height). Zuko stands proudly on one end of the arena, waiting for his opponent to arrive.

To the surprise of everyone present, Fire Lord Ozai steps onto the other end of the arena.

"Father, there's no need for you to introduce the general to me," Zuko protests.

"The general isn't coming," Ozai answers.

"What? But then... it's you I'm fighting?" Zuko asks in surprise. "But why?"

"Of course it's me you're fighting," Ozai replies. "It is true that, since you are a prince, it is impossible for anything you say to a general to count as disrespect. However, you disobeyed my orders, in my war room. It was me you disrespected."

"Fine then," Zuko says, his hands flaring up. "I stand by what I said. Bring it on, father."

"I thought he was fighting the general!" Katara hisses. "How's Zuko going to beat the Fire Lord?"

"You should trust in Zuzu's skills," Azula answers. "He had my father's favor, which means something, doesn't it?"

"It's always about favor with you, Azula. I don't understand why it's such a big deal."

"Just be quiet and watch the fight, okay?"

Katara recalls how easily she defeated Zuko, and any optimism she had is snuffed out.

Zuko puts up a good fight for the first minute, defending solidly against Ozai's powerful blows, but to the more knowledgeable benders present, it's clear that Ozai is just toying with him. Eventually, one blast of Zuko's flames flies dangerously close to Ozai's face, and Ozai's expression turns grave. "You dare to make such a dishonorable strike against your Fire Lord? You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher."

In front of a shocked crowd, Ozai easily overpowers his son in a matter of seconds, presses his ignited hand against Zuko's face, and there's a hellish scream that fills the air. Katara would later swear that she could smell the charred flesh from where she was standing.

If Katara's eyes hadn't been glued to the horrific scene, she would have noticed the look of utter triumph on Azula's face.

…

"Maybe you should have just begged for mercy," Azula offers, as Zuko lies down on the bed. Zuko merely groans in response and clutches the bandages over his left eye.

"Why in spirits' name did I listen to her?" Zuko moans. "If I had just kept quiet, my eye wouldn't be like this, I wouldn't be exiled, and I wouldn't be forced to hunt for the spirits-forsaken Avatar who hasn't been spotted in a century. Curse her, and curse the Southern Water Tribe! If the navy doesn't destroy the place, I'll do it myself!"

"I don't know what led to all this, and you wouldn't tell me before. Why don't you tell me now?" Azula asks innocently.

"I still don't see why you didn't go to this war meeting. I mean, you've gone to meetings before. Okay, so the generals wanted to destroy the Southern Water Tribe, Katara somehow found out and convinced me to speak out against it. Disrespect, Agni Kai, everyone knows the rest," Zuko says. "Come to think of it, how did she find out? That was a private meeting... Azula, did you put her up to it?"

"Of course not," Azula scoffs. "That girl barely listens to anything I tell her to do. I can't tell you how many times that I've forbidden her to talk to you, yet you two are apparently much more friendly with each other than I thought, if she managed to convince you to do such a stupid thing."

"Well, if Katara's out there, tell her to come in. I want to give her a piece of my mind."

…

"Is he alright?" Katara asks Azula as soon as the princess steps out of Zuko's room. "I really need to apologize to him about what happened."

"He's sleeping," Azula answers. "He probably doesn't want to see you right now. You know how he gets with his temper. Just give it a little time."

"But he'll be gone tomorrow, won't he? If I don't see him tonight, there won't be any chance to see him!"

"I think that would do more harm than good. What if you wrote him a letter?" Azula suggests. "I could get the captain of his ship a letter, and tell him not to give it to Zuzu until he is more reasonable."

"You would do that for me?" Katara says. "Thank you Azula, I'll get on it right away!"

…

A meager crowd gathered to see the now disgraced prince off. For his part, Zuko was not even visible to the crowd, and was instead recovering in bed in his chambers aboard the ship.

"Did you give them my letter?" Katara asks.

"Yes I did," Azula says. "Look, about the Southern Water Tribe... I don't think Zuzu was wrong when he said the Southern Water Tribe wasn't a threat, no offense intended. There's not really any point in sending troops south when the war effort against the Northern Water Tribe needs them more. I can explain this to my father if you'd like."

"I don't mind my home being called weak if it means it doesn't get destroyed," Katara sighs. "Could you talk to your father? I'd really appreciate it... but even if it works, I don't think I could be happy, because it would mean that Zuko got exiled for nothing."

"Speaking of which, Katara, you asked me earlier why I cared so much about favor?"

"Umm, okay?"

"Well, today should show you why favor is important. It can disappear in the blink of an eye, and when it does, you find yourself exiled."

"But don't worry about that now," Azula adds. "Now that Zuzu's gone, father can't afford to not give me his favor. And that means you're safe too, as long as you stick with me."

…

Azula insists on making Katara have fun, in order to "take her mind off Zuko." Azula drags Katara around to fun places around the city, but all Katara can think about is that she had planned to go to these places with Zuko. In one restaurant, the waiter makes a remark of "we don't serve your kind here," and Katara has to stop Azula from banishing the unfortunate man.

A few days later, Azula notices that Katara is particularly fidgety, and asks for the reason. "It's nearly the winter solstice," Katara says, "which means that it's almost my birthday."

At this, Azula seems stunned into silence, and it's Katara's turn to ask why. "I also was born on the winter solstice," Azula explains.

"Oh," Katara manages to say. "So that means..."

"It means that we're basically twins," Azula fills in. "Oh, what a delicious coincidence."

"I wouldn't go that far," Katara counters. "I mean, we look nothing alike."

"Yes, but look at everything else," Azula says. "Both our mothers died in childbirth on the winter solstice. You were born to the highest ranking person in the Southern Water Tribe, and I was born into the Fire Nation royal family. We're both talented benders."

"Now that you mention it, I also have a brother who's two years older than me," Katara notes. "He's not a bender though."

"Interesting... I don't think you've ever mentioned having a brother."

"His name is Sokka. He's a bit goofy, but he would do anything to protect our family and village."

"Hmm, well this further supports my claim that we are basically twins," Azula says triumphantly. "You know, I think fate was always going to bring you here. We were always meant to meet each other."

For Azula, she just had to sit in her palace, but Katara had to be torn away from her home. "Yeah... I guess so."

"I mean it," Azula says. "If we had truly shared the same mother, I would have been truly proud to call you a sister. Not like Zuzu. I think that, of all the people on this earth, you are the closest to being my equal."

"W-w-wow. Um, yeah, I would be happy to call you a sister as well, Azula."

"That's all you have to say?" Azula chuckles. "I've just given you very high praise, you know. Look, I'll show you that I mean it. Just you wait. Now, tell me more about this Sokka."

Katara spends the rest of the night telling Azula about her family and about life in the Southern Water Tribe, the princess swallowing every word.

…

True to her word, when Azula's birthday comes around, the princess makes sure that all the servants know that it is also Katara's birthday. For the servants who have grown accustomed to the two girls spending time together, it's not as shocking as it could be. But when the Fire Sages make a birthday speech to the general populace, it is downright scandalous to see a waterbender standing right beside their crown princess.

"Ignore their whispers," Azula advises Katara. "You stand by my side, which means that you are above all these people."

Later in the day, Azula and Katara return to the princess' room to find a mountain of gifts. "The nobles wish to curry my favor," Azula explains. "I doubt I will have need for these things- why don't you see if there's anything here that you want?"

The two girls spend the entire night unwrapping the presents. The nobles seem to lack originality- virtually all of the gifts seem to take the form of expensive jewelry, clothing, or room ornaments.

"This one is interesting," Azula notes, examining a set of wrapped throwing knives. "These were sent by Lord Ukano as per suggestion of his daughter Mai. Perhaps I should meet this Mai..."

Eventually, Katara fails to stifle a yawn, causing Azula to advise her to turn in for the night. Obeying, Katara leaves and begins to navigate the familiar hallways back to her room. Examining a beautiful sapphire necklace instead of watching in front of her, Katara suddenly bumps into the chest of someone as she turns a corner.

She looks up and locks eyes with Fire Lord Ozai.

"F-F-Fire Lord O-O-Ozai!" Katara shouts, dropping to her knees. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's no problem," Ozai chuckles. "You may rise. Were you just with my daughter?"

Katara nods. "I suppose I never thanked you properly for saving my daughter's life," Ozai continues. "And, of course, the other thing..."

"I'm happy to help out Azula," Katara stammers. "She's my best friend here."

"Of course," Ozai says. "Well, I am a man who shows gratitude where it is due. If there is something you would wish for, I would hear it."

"O-Oh, really?" Katara says. "W-well, would it be possible for me to return to the Southern Water Tribe? N-not permanently, of course! Unless you were okay with it! I mean, I could always return if you wanted it."

"That is something you should ask from my daughter, not from me," Ozai replies.

"Why?" Katara asks in confusion. "Azula told me that you were the one who didn't want me leaving the Fire Nation."

Ozai pauses for a moment, before erupting in raging laughter, doubling over as he clutches his stomach. Several moments pass before Ozai manages to catch his breath. "What's so funny?" Katara demands.

"Is that what my daughter told you?" Ozai laughs.

…

" _The waterbender did good work," Ozai notes to Azula as she slips into the decreased Fire Lord's chambers. "It should be fairly easy to pass this off as an unfortunate seizure."_

" _Yes, I myself was quite pleasantly surprised at the outcome," Azula agrees._

" _I suppose the waterbender will be wanting to return to her village now," Ozai says. "It matters not to me whether she leaves or stays. I leave the arrangements of her departure to you."_

" _About that... I believe I still have further use for her. May I keep her here?"_

* * *

A/N:

Well, there goes Zuko.

A relatively quick update, since I felt bad about leaving you guys on a filler chapter. The next chapter will be the last one (unless I write an epilogue), and will wrap up basically every loose plot point.

Next chapter: Katara confronts Azula.


End file.
